System and associated method of service provision based upon broadcast state information

ABSTRACT

A method includes receiving, from a broadcast receiver, identification information for identifying a currently received broadcast station. The method also includes receiving, from an external server, state information which indicates a state of a service for providing information concerning the currently received broadcast station corresponding to the identification information. In addition, the method includes providing information, from a server, depending on whether a URL is included in the state information. The method further includes transmitting, to the broadcast receiver, the state information and an address corresponding to the service, after receiving the identification information from the broadcast receiver and the state information from the external server.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an information provision method whichappropriately provides a client from a specified server via a networkwith state information indicative of information provision servicesassociated with radio programs, for example.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, radio receivers are used for audio stereo reproductionsystems such as all-in-one stereo systems and separate stereocomponents, portable audio systems, car-mounted audio systems, and thelike. The radio receiver receives and demodulates broadcast signalsbroadcast from a radio station and allows users to listen to programsand musical compositions.

On the other hand, the radio station publicizes various informationabout its programs on the Internet homepage. For example, the radiostation sends broadcast signals to the audience, and provides it withmusical composition information about broadcast musical compositionssuch as their titles and artist names as well as names and numbers ofCDs that record the musical compositions.

There is proposed an audio reproduction apparatus (e.g., see PatentDocument 1: Jpn. Pat. Appln. No. 2003-274302) as a client terminalhaving the radio reception function and the Internet connection functionimplemented in one system that simultaneously performs listening ofradio programs and acquisition of musical composition information.

This audio reproduction apparatus allows a user to listen to a programfrom the audio reproduction apparatus and acquire musical compositioninformation from associated information provision servers. The musicalcomposition information includes titles, artist names, and the like ofmusical compositions that are broadcast in the program.

When listening to a radio program using the audio reproductionapparatus, a user may access a homepage concerning the radio program toacquire musical composition information about musical compositionsbroadcast in the radio program. However, the homepage may supply noservice to provide musical composition information. In such case, thehomepage displays a message such as “failed to acquire musicalcomposition information” to the user.

Based on such message only, however, the user cannot determine thereason for failing to acquire the musical composition information,whether the network traffic is congested, whether there is no service ofproviding musical composition information after all, or whether theinfrastructure or an associated information provision server fails.There have been problems of repeatedly sending requests to acquire themusical composition information, for example.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in consideration of the foregoing.It is therefore an object of the present invention to propose aninformation provision method capable of providing state of aninformation provision service before access to an associated informationprovision server providing the information provision service.

To solve the above-mentioned problem, an information provision methodaccording to the present invention comprises the steps of: receivingbroadcast station identification information for identifying a currentlyreceived broadcast station from a broadcast receiver; and transmittingstate information which indicates states of an information provisionservice concerning the broadcast station corresponding to the broadcaststation identification information and an address corresponding to theinformation provision service to the broadcast receiver.

The broadcast receiver can be provided with not only the stateinformation indicative of states of the information provision serviceassociated with the broadcast station, but also the addresscorresponding to the information provision service. A user can beclearly notified of service states of an information provision serviceprior to access to the information provision service.

An information provision apparatus according to the present inventioncomprises: a reception means for receiving broadcast stationidentification information for identifying a currently receivedbroadcast station from a broadcast receiver; and a transmission meansfor transmitting state information which indicates states of aninformation provision service concerning the broadcast stationcorresponding to the broadcast station identification information and anaddress corresponding to the information provision service to thebroadcast receiver.

The broadcast receiver can be provided with not only the stateinformation indicative of states of the information provision serviceassociated with the radio station, but also the address corresponding tothe information provision service. A user can be clearly notified ofservice states of an information provision service prior to access tothe information provision service.

An information provision program according to the present inventionallows an information processing apparatus to perform the steps of:receiving broadcast station identification information for identifying acurrently received broadcast station from a broadcast receiver; andtransmitting state information which indicates states of an informationprovision service concerning the broadcast station corresponding to thebroadcast station identification information and an addresscorresponding to the information provision service to the broadcastreceiver.

The broadcast receiver can be provided with not only the stateinformation indicative of states of the information provision serviceassociated with the radio station, but also the address corresponding tothe information provision service. A user can be clearly notified ofservice states of an information provision service prior to access tothe information provision service.

An information reception method according to the present inventioncomprises the steps of: transmitting broadcast station identificationinformation for identifying a currently received broadcast station; andreceiving state information which indicates states of an informationprovision service concerning the broadcast station corresponding to thebroadcast station identification information and an addresscorresponding to the information provision service from the informationprovision apparatus.

The broadcast station identification information is used to identify thecurrently received broadcast station. A client terminal sends thisbroadcast station identification information to the informationprovision apparatus. In this manner, the client terminal can receive thefollowing from the information provision apparatus: the stateinformation indicating states of the information provision serviceassociated with the broadcast station; and the address corresponding tothe information provision service. It is possible to be clearly notifiedof service states of an information provision service prior to access tothe information provision service.

An information reception apparatus according to the present inventioncomprises: a transmission means for transmitting broadcast stationidentification information for identifying a currently receivedbroadcast station to an information provision apparatus; and a receptionmeans for receiving state information which indicates states of aninformation provision service concerning the broadcast stationcorresponding to the broadcast station identification information and anaddress corresponding to the information provision service from theinformation provision apparatus.

The broadcast station identification information is used to identify thecurrently received broadcast station. A client terminal sends thisbroadcast station identification information to the informationprovision apparatus. In this manner, the client terminal can receive thefollowing from the information provision apparatus: the stateinformation indicating states of the information provision serviceassociated with the broadcast station; and the address corresponding tothe information provision service. It is possible to be clearly notifiedof service states of an information provision service prior to access tothe information provision service.

An information reception program according to the present inventionallows an information processing apparatus to perform the steps of:transmitting broadcast station identification information foridentifying a currently received broadcast station to an informationprovision apparatus; and receiving state information which indicatesstates of an information provision service concerning the broadcaststation corresponding to the broadcast station identificationinformation and an address corresponding to the information provisionservice from the information provision apparatus.

The broadcast station identification information is used to identify thecurrently received broadcast station. A client terminal sends thisbroadcast station identification information to the informationprovision apparatus. In this manner, the client terminal can receive thefollowing from the information provision apparatus: the stateinformation indicating states of the information provision serviceassociated with the broadcast station; and the address corresponding tothe information provision service. It is possible to be clearly notifiedof service states of an information provision service prior to access tothe information provision service.

According to the present invention, the broadcast receiver can beprovided with not only the state information indicative of states of theinformation provision service associated with the broadcast station, butalso the address corresponding to the information provision service. Inthis manner, it is possible to realize the information provision method,the information provision apparatus, and the information provisionprogram capable of allowing users to be clearly notified of servicestates of an information provision service prior to access to theinformation provision service.

According to the present invention, the broadcast station identificationinformation is used to identify the currently received broadcaststation. A client terminal sends this broadcast station identificationinformation to the information provision apparatus. In this manner, theclient terminal can receive the following from the information provisionapparatus: the state information indicating states of the informationprovision service associated with the broadcast station; and the addresscorresponding to the information provision service. It is possible torealize the information reception method, the information receptionapparatus, and the information reception program capable of beingclearly notified of service states of an information provision serviceprior to access to the information provision service.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of aninformation provision system according to a first embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of a radiostation;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of a URLprovision server;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of anassociated information provision server;

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram showing the circuit configuration ofa client terminal;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating directory management ofcontents;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing program modules of the clientterminal;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a state information provisionsequence not to determine whether or not a URL is available;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a state information screen;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a state information provisionsequence to determine whether or not a URL is available;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a musical composition informationprovision sequence according to the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a program information provisionsequence according to the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration usingfunctional circuit blocks of the client terminal according to a secondembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration usingfunctional circuit blocks of a portal server;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration usingfunctional circuit blocks of radio broadcast information deliveryserver;

FIG. 16 is a sequence chart showing a user authentication processbetween the client terminal and the portal server;

FIG. 17 is a sequence chart showing a user authentication processbetween the client terminal and a service provision server;

FIG. 18 is a sequence chart showing a radio broadcast information(on-air-list information) delivery service provision process; and

FIG. 19 is a sequence chart showing a radio broadcast information(now-on-air information) delivery service provision process.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings.

(1) First Embodiment (1-1) Overall Configuration of the InformationProvision System

As shown in FIG. 1, the reference numeral 1 denotes an informationprovision system constituting the present invention as a whole. A clientterminal CT receives broadcast from a radio station RS.

In the information provision system 1, the radio station RS connectswith an associated information provision server KS comprising acomputer. A leased line is used for this connection. In place of theradio station RS, the associated information provision server KSprovides a homepage of the radio station RS. In response to anacquisition request from the client terminal CT, the associatedinformation provision server KS can provide musical compositioninformation as associated information about musical compositionsbroadcast from the radio station RS via a network 2 such as theInternet.

In the information provision system 1, a URL provision server 3comprising a computer is notified of URL (Uniform Resource Locator)information that indicates an access destination of the informationprovision service provided by the associated information provisionserver KS using the homepage and the like.

If a change is made in the URL indicating the access destination of theinformation provision service, the URL provision server 3 manages thechanged URL according to notification from the associated informationprovision server KS. The URL provision server 3 can always provide themost recent URL in response to an inquiry from the client terminal CTabout the access destination of the information provision serviceprovided by the radio station RS.

Since the radio broadcast is limited to receivable areas, the samefrequency may be commonly shared among a plurality of areas. Forexample, the 80.0 MHz frequency is used by FM Tokyo in the Tokyometropolitan area and by FM Aomori in the Tohoku district.

Accordingly, the client terminal CT cannot specify the radio station RSonly by specifying the frequency for the URL provision server 3. Theclient terminal CT further notifies the URL provision server 3 ofspecific information called a call sign to specify the radio station RS.In this manner, the client terminal CT can reliably receive the URL fromthe URL provision server 3. As mentioned above, the URL indicates theaccess destination of the information provision service provided by theradio station RS.

(1-2) Configuration of the Radio Station RS

As shown in FIG. 2, the radio station RS includes a control section 70comprising a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control section 70 usesa ROM (Read Only Memory) 71 and RAM (Random Access Memory) 72 to startbasic programs such as an OS (Operating System) and various applicationprograms. Based on these programs, the control section 70 controls theentire system in a unified fashion. The radio station RS performsprocesses such as program broadcasting to broadcast programs from abroadcast transmission section 73 to the client terminal CT via anantenna 74.

The radio station RS uses a content database 74 to store many contentssuch as previously recorded programs and musical compositions to bebroadcast in the programs. The radio station RS broadcasts the programaccording to a program schedule and broadcasts musical compositioncontents in the program as needed.

In this case, the radio station RS uses a data communication processingsection 76 to notify the associated information provision server KS thatmusical compositions are broadcast in the program. In addition, theradio station RS notifies the associated information provision server KSwhich program is currently being broadcast.

(1-3) Configuration of the URL Provision Server 3

As shown in FIG. 3, the URL provision server 3 includes a controlsection 80 comprising a CPU. The control section 80 uses ROM 81 and RAM82 to start basic programs such as an OS and various applicationprograms. Based on these programs, the URL provision server 3 performsoverall control, specified operations, and the like.

The URL provision server 3 receives a call sign from the client terminalCT, then the server 3 searches a URL storage database 83 for a URL ofthe homepage provided as an information provision service by the radiostation RS corresponding to the call sign. The URL provision server 3returns the URL to the client terminal CT via a data communicationprocessing section 84.

The URL provision server 3 is also connected to the associatedinformation provision server KS (FIG. 1). The URL provision server 3receives state information representing service states in the associatedinformation provision server KS via the data communication processingsection 84. The URL provision server 3 provides the client terminal CTwith the state information as well as the URL.

(1-4) Configuration of the Associated Information Provision Server

As shown in FIG. 4, the associated information provision server KSincludes a control section 90 comprising a CPU. The control section 90uses a ROM 91 and RAM 92 to start basic programs such as an OS andvarious application programs. Based on these programs, the associatedinformation provision server KS performs overall control, specifiedoperations, and the like.

The associated information provision server KS searches a musicalcomposition information database 93 for musical composition informationabout musical compositions broadcast in a program by the radio stationRS, for example. The associated information provision server KS providesthe musical composition information as associated information to theclient terminal CT via the data communication processing section 95.

Further, the associated information provision server KS searches aprogram information database 94 for program information aboutperformers, a DJ name, genres, and the like associated with a programbroadcast by the radio station RS. The associated information provisionserver KS provides the program information as associated information tothe client terminal CT via the data communication processing section 95.

(1-5) Circuit Configuration of the Client Terminal CT

As shown in FIG. 5, a CPU 11 of the client terminal CT reads basicprograms such as an OS and various application programs from a ROM 13connected via a bus 12 and expands the programs in a RAM 20. Based onthese programs, the CPU 11 performs overall control, specifiedoperations, and the like. For example, the CPU 11 performs communicationoperations via the network 2, input/output operations in relation tousers, reproduction of contents from media, writing of contentsdownloaded from the radio station RS onto a hard disk drive (HDD) 21,management of contents, and the like.

The operation input section 15 sends input information to an inputprocessing section 14. The input information corresponds to useroperations for various operation devices provided on the surface of themain unit cabinet or a remote controller (not shown). The inputprocessing section 14 applies specified processes to the inputinformation and sends it as an operation command to the CPU 11. The CPU11 performs processes corresponding to the operation command.

A display 17 represents a display device such as a liquid crystaldisplay and may be directly attached to the surface of the main unitcabinet or may be externally connected. The display 17 displaysprocessing results from the CPU 11 and the other various information.

A media drive 19 reproduces, for example, a CD (Compact Disc) or MemoryStick (registered trademark) comprising flash memory and the like. Anaudio data processing section 24 digital-to-analog converts thereproduction result which is then output from a 2-channel speaker 25.

When the CPU 11 reproduces data, e.g., a musical composition's audiocontent via the media drive 19, the audio content can be stored as anaudio data file in a hard disk drive 21.

Further, the CPU 11 uses the media drive 19 to read a plurality of stillpictures stored in Memory Stick. These still pictures can be displayedas a slideshow on the display 17 via a display processing section 16.

In addition, the CPU 11 can randomly access and read a plurality ofmusical compositions stored in the hard disk drive 21 to reproduce themusical compositions in a user-specified order like a jukebox.

A tuner section 27 is equivalent to an AM or FM radio tuner, forexample. The tuner section 27 demodulates a broadcast signal received atan antenna 26 under the control of the CPU 11. The result, as abroadcast audio, is passed to the audio data processing section 24 andis output from the speaker 25.

A communication processing section 22 encodes transmission data underthe control of the CPU 11. The communication processing section 22 usesa network interface 23 to transmit data to external network-compliantdevices via a network 2. The communication processing section 22 usesthe network interface 23 to receive data from external network-compliantdevices and decodes the received data. The communication processingsection 22 then transfers the decoded data to the CPU 11.

(1-6) Directory Management of Contents

The CPU 11 of the client terminal CT manages contents to be stored inthe hard disk drive 21 according to directory structure as shown in FIG.6. There are created any number of “folder” directories within aspecified range under a “root” directory. The “folder” directory iscreated in accordance with a genre of contents, an owner user, and thelike.

Under the “folder” directory, there are created any number of “album”directories within a specified range. The “album” directory correspondsto one album title, for example. The “album” directory stores one ormore “track” files belonging to the “album” directory. That is to say,the “track” file is equivalent to one musical composition, i.e., acontent.

A database file is stored in the hard disk drive 21 and is used for thedirectory management of contents.

(1-7) Program Module Configuration of the Client Terminal CT

As shown in FIG. 7, the client terminal CT comprises program modulesoperating under the OS. Specifically, the client terminal CT interactswith various servers such as a CD seller server 31 to sell CDs, anInternet radio server 32, a music delivery operation server 33, anoverall service server 34, and the associated information provisionserver KS.

An HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) message program 36 uses HTTPcommunication to interact with various servers such as the CD sellerserver 31, the Internet radio server 32, the music delivery operationserver 33, the overall service server 34 to provide overall services,and the associated information provision server KS. A communicatorprogram 37 is a program module to exchange data with the HTTP messageprogram 36.

Above the communicator program 37, there are a content reproductionmodule 38 and a copyright protection information management module 39.The content reproduction module 38 interprets codec information ofcontents and reproduces the contents. The copyright protectioninformation management module 39 handles information about copyrightprotection. The content reproduction module 38 and the copyrightprotection information management module 39 correspond to an Internetradio channel selection/reproduction module 43 and a musical compositionpurchase/reproduction module 44, respectively. The Internet radiochannel selection/reproduction module 43 selects and reproduces Internetradio channels. The musical composition purchase/reproduction module 44controls purchase of musical compositions and reproduces samples.

An XML (eXtensible Markup Language) browser 50 is positioned above theInternet radio channel selection/reproduction module 43 and the musicalcomposition purchase/reproduction module 44. The XML browser 50interprets XML files from various servers and displays them on thedisplay 17.

For example, a user selects a musical composition using the XML browser50. The selected musical composition is purchased through the musicalcomposition purchase/reproduction module 44 and is written to the harddisk drive 21 via a hard disk contents controller 42.

The communicator program 37 connects with an authentication library 47Aof a library 47. The authentication library 47A authenticates variousservers such as the overall service server 34.

Above the communicator program 37, there are a database access module40, a content data access module 41, and a hard disk contents controller42.

The database access module 40 accesses various databases configured inthe hard disk drive 21. The content data access module 41 accessescontents stored in the hard disk drive 21. The hard disk contentscontroller 42 manages contents stored in the hard disk drive 21.

Above the hard disk contents controller 42, there are an associatedinformation display module 45 and a tunerselection/reproduction/recording module 46. The associated informationdisplay module 45 displays titles and artist names of musicalcompositions broadcast by the radio station RS. The tunerselection/reproduction/recording module 46 selects a radio station RSand records musical composition contents received from the radio stationRS on the hard disk drive 21.

When a musical composition is received from the radio station RSselected via an audio user interface 51, for example, the receivedmusical composition is written to the hard disk drive 21 via the contentdata access module 41.

The associated information display module 45 receives associatedinformation from the associated information provision server KS via theHTTP message program 36. The associated information includes titles andartist names of the musical compositions currently broadcast by theradio station RS corresponding to the tunerselection/reproduction/recording module 46. The associated informationis displayed on the display 17 via the audio user interface (UI) 51.

The associated information can be not only displayed on the display 17via the audio user interface 51, but also temporarily stored in a cliplibrary 47B of the library 47. According to a user instruction, theassociated information is finally stored in the hard disk drive 21 viathe database access module 40.

The other program modules for the client terminal CT include a CDreproduction module 48 and an HDD reproduction module 49. The CDreproduction module 48 reproduces CDs. The HDD reproduction module 49reproduces the hard disk drive 21. A reproduction result is output viathe audio data processing section 24 and the speaker 25.

(1-8) State Information Provision Sequence of the Information ProvisionService

The radio station RS provides a homepage as one of information provisionservices. The URL provision server 3 provides the client terminal CTwith the homepage's most recent and accurate URL via the network 2. Atthe same time, the client terminal CT is provided with states of theinformation provision service. A state information provision process isused for this purpose. The following describes the state informationprovision process.

(1-8-1) State Information Provision Sequence not to DetermineAvailability of URL

At step SP31 as shown in FIG. 8, the associated information provisionserver KS provides a homepage of the radio station RS via the network 2.The homepage may be serviced, may stop providing services, or may besubject to maintenance. In such cases, the associated informationprovision server KS passes these service states as state information tothe URL provision server 3.

The associated information provision server KS can also pass the otherstate information such as information about the associated informationprovision server KS, a homepage URL of the radio station RS, andadditional messages.

At step SP41, the URL provision server 3 identifies the stateinformation provided from the associated information provision serverKS, i.e., the information about the associated information provisionserver KS, the radio station RS's homepage URL, the homepage's servicestate, and additional messages. The URL provision server 3 stores thestate information in the URL storage database 83 (FIG. 3) and thenproceeds to the next step SP42.

At step SP51, the client terminal CT issues a URL acquisition request tothe URL provision server 3 so as to access the radio station RS'shomepage by sending a call sign to specify the radio station RS and userinformation (user ID, password, authentication session ID, and the like)to the URL provision server 3. The client terminal CT then proceeds tothe next step SP52.

At step SP42, the URL provision server 3 specifies the radio station RSbased on the call sign from the client terminal CT. The URL provisionserver 3 reads the state information corresponding to the specifiedradio station RS from the URL storage database 83. The URL provisionserver 3 provides the state information to the client terminal CT viathe network 2. At this time, the URL provision server 3 authenticatesthe user information sent from the client terminal CT. This will bedescribed in more detail with reference to a second embodiment later.

At step SP52, the client terminal CT acquires the state information fromthe URL provision server 3 and displays it on the display 17 to notifythe user of the information provision service state. Further, the clientterminal CT temporarily stores a state information provision URL of thestate information in the RAM 20 and the HDD 21 with reference to thecall sign. The client terminal CT then proceeds to the next step SP53.

As shown in FIG. 9, for example, the client terminal CT displays a stateinformation screen 100 on the display 17 to notify the user ofinformation provision service states. More specifically, a URL displayarea 101 shows a URL to indicate the access destination of the radiostation RS's homepage. A state information display area 102 showsavailability of the information provision service using a message suchas “The information provision service is now available from thehomepage”. An additional message display area 103 shows an additionalmessage such as “The service will stop from 2:00 to 5:00 am on month ∘,day Δ because of the scheduled maintenance”.

At step SP53, the client terminal CT determines whether or not theinformation provision service is performed based on the stateinformation contents. Only if it is determined that the informationprovision service is performed, the client terminal CT proceeds to thenext step SP54. When the state information contains a state informationprovision URL, for example, the client terminal CT determines that theinformation provision service is performed.

If it is determined at step SP54 that the information provision serviceis performed, the client terminal CT accesses the temporarily storedstate information provision URL, i.e., the homepage of the informationprovision service. The client terminal CT issues a request to theassociated information provision server KS to acquire the associatedinformation about programs and musical compositions broadcast from theradio station RS.

At step SP32, the associated information provision server KS providesthe associated information about programs and musical compositions inresponse to the acquisition request from the client terminal CT via thenetwork 2. At this time, the associated information provision server KSperforms authentication based on the user information sent from theclient terminal CT. This will be described in more detail with referenceto the second embodiment later.

(1-8-2) State Information Provision Sequence to Determine Availabilityof URL

At step SP61 as shown in FIG. 10 the associated information provisionserver KS functions like step SP31. The homepage may be serviced, maystop providing services, or may be subject to maintenance. In suchcases, the associated information provision server KS passes theseservice states as the state information to the URL provision server 3.

The associated information provision server KS can also pass the otherstate information such as information about the associated informationprovision server KS, a homepage URL of the radio station RS, andadditional messages.

At step SP71, the URL provision server 3 identifies the stateinformation provided from the associated information provision serverKS, i.e., information provision service states such as the informationabout the associated information provision server KS, the radio stationRS's homepage URL, the homepage's service state, and additionalmessages. The URL provision server 3 stores the state information in theURL storage database 83 (FIG. 3) and then proceeds to the next stepSP72.

At step SP81, the client terminal CT issues a URL acquisition request tothe URL provision server 3 so as to access the radio station RS'shomepage by sending a call sign to specify the radio station RS and userinformation (user ID, password, authentication session ID, and the like)to the URL provision server 3. The client terminal CT then proceeds tothe next step SP82.

At step SP72, the URL provision server 3 specifies the radio station RSbased on the call sign from the client terminal CT. The URL provisionserver 3 reads the state information corresponding to the specifiedradio station RS from the URL storage database 83. The URL provisionserver 3 determines whether or not the state information contains theURL of the homepage provided by the radio station RS. If the result isnegative, the URL provision server 3 proceeds to the next step SP73. Atthis time, the URL provision server 3 authenticates the user informationsent from the client terminal CT. This will be described in more detailwith reference to the second embodiment later.

At step SP73, it is determined that no URL is contained in the stateinformation. This indicates that the information provision service iscurrently unavailable and that no homepage exists. At this time, the URLprovision server 3 adds to the state information a message indicatingunavailability of the information provision service such as “Thehomepage presently provides no information provision service”. The URLprovision server 3 provides this state information to the clientterminal CT.

If the result is affirmative at step SP72, however, the URL provisionserver 3 proceeds to the next step SP74. The URL provision server 3provides the client terminal CT with the state information read from theURL storage database 83 via the network 2, and then proceeds to the nextstep SP75.

At step SP82, the client terminal CT acquires the state information fromthe URL provision server 3 and displays it on the display 17 to notifythe user of the information provision service state. Further, the clientterminal CT temporarily stores a state information provision URL of thestate information in the RAM 20 and the HDD 21 with reference to thecall sign. The client terminal CT then proceeds to the next step SP83.

Let us assume that there is provided the state information including themessage indicating unavailability of the information provision serviceat step SP73. The client terminal CT displays the message such as “Thehomepage presently provides no information provision service” on thedisplay 17.

On the other hand, let us assume that there is provided the stateinformation including the URL at step SP74. The client terminal CT candisplay the state information screen 100 (FIG. 9) on the display 17 tovisually notify the user of information provision service states inadvance. More specifically, the state information screen 100 displaysthe URL to indicate the access destination of the radio station RS'shomepage, availability of the information provision service from thehomepage, and the additional message such as “The service will stop from2:00 to 5:00 am on month ∘, day Δ because of the scheduled maintenance”.

At step SP83, the client terminal CT determines whether or not theinformation provision service is performed based on the stateinformation contents. Only if it is determined that the informationprovision service is performed, the client terminal CT proceeds to thenext step SP84.

If it is determined at step SP84 that the information provision serviceis performed, the client terminal CT accesses the temporarily storedstate information provision URL, i.e., the homepage of the informationprovision service. The client terminal CT issues a request to theassociated information provision server KS to acquire the associatedinformation about programs and musical compositions broadcast from theradio station RS.

At step SP62, the associated information provision server KS providesthe associated information about programs and musical compositions inresponse to the acquisition request from the client terminal CT via thenetwork 2. At this time, the associated information provision server KSperforms authentication based on the user information sent from theclient terminal CT. This will be described in more detail with referenceto the second embodiment later.

(1-9) Associated Information Provision Sequences

(1-9-1) Musical Composition Information Provision Sequence

Referring now to FIG. 11, the following describes a process in which theassociated information provision server KS follows a specifiedinformation provision program and uses the homepage to provide theclient terminal CT with the associated information comprising musicalcomposition information about musical compositions broadcast by theradio station RS.

At step SP101, the radio station RS starts broadcasting musicalcomposition A in the current program, and then proceeds to the next stepSP102.

After starting broadcasting musical composition A at step SP102, theradio station RS notifies this state to the associated informationprovision server KS, and then proceeds to the next step SP103.

At step SP111, the associated information provision server KS uses themusical composition information database 93 (FIG. 4) to maintain adatabase of musical composition information associated with musicalcompositions. More specifically, the musical composition informationincludes titles and artist names concerning a plurality of types ofmusical compositions, names and numbers of CDs that record thecorresponding musical compositions, and the like. It is necessary toprovide the client terminal CT with musical composition informationassociated with musical composition A notified from the radio stationRS. For this purpose, the associated information provision server KSupdates the previous musical composition information to musicalcomposition information associated with musical composition A, and thenproceeds to the next step SP112.

At step SP121, the client terminal CT receives musical composition Abroadcast by the radio station RS at step SP101 so that the user canlisten to it. At step SP122, the client terminal CT performs polling bysending an acquisition request for the musical composition informationto the associated information provision server KS at an interval of 30seconds. The musical composition information includes titles and artistnames associated with musical composition A. The client terminal CT thenproceeds to the next step SP123.

The associated information provision server KS prepares the musicalcomposition information to be provided in advance. At step SP112, inresponse to the acquisition request from the client terminal CT, theassociated information provision server KS provides the client terminalCT with that prepared musical composition information about musicalcomposition A via the network 2. The associated information provisionserver KS then proceeds to the next step SP113.

At step SP123, the client terminal CT uses the display 17 to display themusical composition information about musical composition A providedfrom the associated information provision server KS. Doing this allowsthe user to recognize the musical composition information such as titlesand artist names about the musical composition A broadcast in theprogram. The client terminal CT then proceeds to the next step SP124.

At step SP103, the radio station RS stops broadcasting musicalcomposition A. At step SP104, the radio station RS terminates thecurrent program that broadcast musical composition A, startsbroadcasting the next program, and then proceeds to the next step SP105.

At step SP105, the radio station RS starts the next broadcast andsimultaneously sends a clear instruction to the associated informationprovision server KS. This aims at removing the musical compositioninformation about musical composition A broadcast in the previousprogram from the other information maintained by the associatedinformation provision server KS for provision. The radio station RS thenproceeds to the next step SP106.

At step SP113, the associated information provision server KS removesthe musical composition information about musical composition A from theother information maintained for provision. Doing so, the associatedinformation provision server KS clears the musical compositioninformation about musical composition A, and then proceeds to the nextstep SP114.

At step SP124, an interval of 30 seconds has passed since the mostrecent acquisition request. The client terminal CT re-issues anacquisition request for musical composition information to theassociated information provision server KS.

At step SP114, the associated information provision server KS terminatesthe preceding program for broadcasting musical composition A and startsthe next program. Almost at the same time, the associated informationprovision server KS clears the musical composition information aboutmusical composition A broadcast in the preceding program from the otherinformation to be provided. The associated information provision serverKS provides the client terminal CT with empty musical compositioninformation (null data) as the associated information, and then proceedsto the next step SP115.

At step SP125, the client terminal CT displays the null musicalcomposition information on the display 17. That is to say, nothing isdisplayed thereon.

Since nothing is displayed on the display 17, the client terminal CTindirectly notifies the user that no musical composition is broadcast inthe currently broadcast program.

At step SP106, the radio station RS starts broadcasting musicalcomposition B in the current program. At step SP107, the radio stationRS notifies the associated information provision server KS that musicalcomposition B has started to be broadcast.

At step SP113, the associated information provision server KS alreadyclears the musical composition information about musical composition A.Therefore, at step SP115, the associated information provision server KSreads the musical composition information about musical composition Bfrom the musical composition information database 93. The associatedinformation provision server KS updates the read musical compositioninformation as one to be provided, and then proceeds to the next stepSP116.

At step SP126, the client terminal CT re-issues an acquisition requestfor the musical composition information to the associated informationprovision server KS. At step SP116, the associated information provisionserver KS provides the client terminal CT with the updated musicalcomposition information about musical composition B. At step SP127, theclient terminal CT acquires the musical composition information aboutmusical composition B and displays it on the display 17.

In this manner, the client terminal CT can acquire the musicalcomposition information about musical composition A or B broadcast inthe program from the associated information provision server KS whilethe radio station RS is broadcasting the program. It is possible toprevent the currently broadcast program and the musical compositioninformation from being displayed with a time difference between them.

(1-9-2) Program Information Provision Sequence

With reference to FIG. 12, the following describes a process in whichthe associated information provision server KS uses a homepage toprovide the client terminal CT with the associated information, i.e.,information associated with programs broadcast from the radio stationRS. In FIGS. 11 and 12, the associated information provision server KSauthenticates user information sent from the client terminal CT in themanner similar to those described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 10. Thespecific authentication technique will be described in the secondembodiment later.

At step SP201, the radio station RS starts broadcasting musicalcomposition A in the current program, and then proceeds to the next stepSP202.

After starting broadcasting musical composition A at step SP202, theradio station RS notifies this state to the associated informationprovision server KS, and then proceeds to the next step SP203.

At step SP211, the associated information provision server KS reads themusical composition information associated with musical composition Afrom the musical composition information database 93 (FIG. 4). Theassociated information provision server KS is prepared to provide theclient terminal CT with the musical composition information associatedwith musical composition A notified from the radio station RS. Theassociated information provision server KS updates the previouslymaintained musical composition information to that associated withmusical composition A, and then proceeds to the next step SP212.

At step SP221, the client terminal CT receives musical composition Abroadcast by the radio station RS at step SP201 so that the user canlisten to it. At step SP222, the client terminal CT performs polling bysending an acquisition request for the musical composition informationto the associated information provision server KS at an interval of 30seconds. The musical composition information includes titles and artistnames associated with musical composition A. The client terminal CT thenproceeds to the next step SP223.

The associated information provision server KS prepares the musicalcomposition information to be provided in advance. At step SP212, inresponse to the acquisition request from the client terminal CT, theassociated information provision server KS provides the client terminalCT with that prepared musical composition information about musicalcomposition A via the network 2. The associated information provisionserver KS then proceeds to the next step SP213.

At step SP223, the client terminal CT uses the display 17 to display themusical composition information about musical composition A providedfrom the associated information provision server KS. Doing this allowsthe user to recognize the musical composition information such as titlesand artist names about the musical composition A broadcast in thecurrent program. The client terminal CT then proceeds to the next stepSP224.

At step SP203, the radio station RS stops broadcasting musicalcomposition A. At step SP204, the radio station RS terminates thecurrent program that broadcast musical composition A, startsbroadcasting the next program, and then proceeds to the next step SP205.

At step SP205, the radio station RS starts the next broadcast andsimultaneously notifies the associated information provision server KSthat the next program has started to be broadcast. The radio station RSproceeds to the next step SP206.

The associated information provision server KS uses the musicalcomposition information database 93 to store a plurality of musicalcomposition information. Likewise, the associated information provisionserver KS uses the program information database 94 to store programinformation associated with a plurality of programs such as programnames, DJ names, and the like. At step SP213, the associated informationprovision server KS reads the program information associated with thenext program such as a program name, a DJ name, and the like from theprogram information database 94. The associated information provisionserver KS then removes the musical composition information about musicalcomposition A from the information to be provided. The associatedinformation provision server KS updates the program information aboutthe next program as information to be provided next, and then proceedsto the next step SP214.

At step SP224, an interval of 30 seconds has passed since the mostrecent acquisition request. The client terminal CT re-issues anacquisition request for musical composition information to theassociated information provision server KS.

At step SP214, the associated information provision server KS maintainsthe program information associated with the next program as informationto be provided next. In addition, the next program does not broadcastmusical composition B yet. The associated information provision serverKS provides the client terminal CT the program information about thenext program as the associated information, and then proceeds to thenext step SP215.

At step SP225, the client terminal CT uses the display 17 to display theprogram information associated with the next program such as the programname, the DJ name, and the like, and then proceeds to the next stepSP226.

Though the radio station RS already starts broadcasting the nextprogram, the program does not start broadcasting the musical compositionyet. The client terminal CT displays the next program's programinformation provided from the associated information provision server KSuntil the program starts broadcasting the musical composition.

At step SP206, the radio station RS starts broadcasting musicalcomposition B in the current program (next program). At step SP207, theradio station RS notifies the associated information provision server KSthat musical composition B has started to be broadcast.

At step SP215, the associated information provision server KS reads themusical composition information about musical composition B from themusical composition information database 93. The associated informationprovision server KS newly updates the musical composition informationabout musical composition B as one to be provided, and then proceeds tothe next step SP216.

At step SP226, the client terminal CT re-issues an acquisition requestfor musical composition information to the associated informationprovision server KS at a polling interval, and then proceeds to the nextstep SP227.

At step SP216, the associated information provision server KS providesthe client terminal CT with the updated musical composition informationabout musical composition B. At step SP227, the client terminal CTacquires the musical composition information about musical composition Band displays it on the display 17.

The client terminal CT may issue an acquisition request for the musicalcomposition information when the current program changes to the next onewhich broadcasts no musical composition yet. In such case, the clientterminal CT can acquire the program information about the next programinstead of the musical composition information and display the acquiredprogram information on the display 17. This prevents the display 17 fromdisplaying nothing despite acquisition request for the musicalcomposition information and notifies useful program information to theuser who listens to the program instead of the musical compositioninformation.

(1-10) Operations and Effects

According to the above-mentioned configuration, the URL provision server3 of the information provision system 1 uses the URL storage database 83to store the state information supplied from the associated informationprovision server KS, i.e., information about the associated informationprovision server KS, the radio station RS's homepage URL, service statesof the homepage, additional messages, and the like.

The URL provision server 3 specifies the radio station RS based on thecall sign received from the client terminal CT. The URL provision server3 reads the state information corresponding to the specified radiostation RS from the URL storage database 83 and provides the stateinformation to the client terminal CT.

At this time, a URL may be contained in the state informationcorresponding to the radio station RS specified by the call sign. Inthis case, the URL provision server 3 can determine that the informationprovision service is available from the homepage provided by the radiostation RS. In this case, the client terminal CT is provided with notonly the homepage's URL, but also information about the associatedinformation provision server KS, service states of the homepage,additional messages, and the like.

The client terminal CT can use the display 17 to display the URL of thehomepage provided by the radio station RS corresponding to the call signand notify the user of the access destination. In addition, the clientterminal CT can allow the user to explicitly confirm the homepage'sservice state prior to access to the URL.

This is useful when no information provision service is available viathe homepage provided by the radio station RS corresponding to the callsign. The user can beforehand confirm that it is impossible to issueacquisition request for the musical composition information to theassociated information provision server KS via the homepage. This makesit possible to eliminate unnecessary operations.

When no URL is contained in the state information corresponding to theradio station RS specified by the call sign, the URL provision server 3determines that no information provision service is available from thehomepage provided by the radio station RS. The URL provision server 3provides the client terminal CT with the state information by adding themessage such as “The homepage presently provides no informationprovision service” to indicate unavailability of the informationprovision service.

Based on the state information acquired from the URL provision server 3,the client terminal CT uses the display 17 to display the message “Thehomepage presently provides no information provision service”. The usercan avoid unnecessary operations such as searching for the URL of thehomepage provided by the radio station RS.

According to the above-mentioned configuration, the state informationcorresponding to the radio station RS specified by the call sign maycontain the URL of the homepage provided by the radio station RS. Insuch case, the URL provision server 3 of the information provisionsystem 1 determines that at least the information provision service isprovided via the homepage. The URL provision server 3 provides theclient terminal CT with that URL as well as the information about theassociated information provision server KS, the homepage's servicestate, the additional message, and the like. In this manner, the usercan recognize not only the homepage's URL via the client terminal CT,but also the homepage's service state prior to access.

(2) Second Embodiment

As the second embodiment, the following describes authentication methodsbetween the client terminal 2 and the URL provision server 3 and betweenthe client terminal 2 and the associated information provision server KSaccording to the first embodiment as mentioned above.

The method of providing the associated information according to thesecond embodiment is the same as that for the first embodiment and thedescription is omitted. A client terminal 1002 in FIG. 13 according tothe second embodiment corresponds to the client terminal CT in FIG. 1according to the above-mentioned first embodiment. A portal server 1003in FIG. 14 functions as an authentication server and corresponds to theURL provision server 3 in FIG. 1. A radio broadcast information deliveryserver 1006 in FIG. 15 corresponds to the associated informationprovision server KS in FIG. 1.

(2-1) Functional Circuit Block Configuration of the Client Terminal

The following describes the hardware configuration of the clientterminal 1002 using functional circuit blocks. As shown in FIG. 13, theclient terminal 1002 has an operation input section 1020 comprisingvarious operation buttons provided on the surface of the client terminalcabinet or a remote controller (not shown). When a user operates theoperation input section 1020, it detects the user operation and sends aninput operation signal corresponding to the operation to an inputprocessing section 1021.

The input processing section 1021 is supplied with the input operationsignal from the operation input section 1020, converts the signal into aspecific operation command, and sends it to a control section 1023 via abus 1022.

The control section 1023 is supplied with operation commands and controlsignals from circuits connected to the bus 1022. Based on theseoperation commands and control signals, the control section 1023controls operations of these circuits.

A display control section 1024 is supplied with video data via the bus1022 and applies digital-analog conversion to the video data to generatean analog video signal. The display control section 1024 sends theresulting analog video signal to a display section 1025.

The display section 1025 represents a display device such as a liquidcrystal display and may be directly attached to the surface of the mainunit cabinet or may be externally connected.

The display section 1025 is supplied with processing results from thecontrol section 1023 and various video data as an analog video signalvia the display control section 1024. The display section 1025 displaysa video based on the analog video signal.

An audio control section 1026 applies digital-analog conversion to audiodata supplied via the bus 1022 and sends a resulting analog audio signalto a speaker 1027. The speaker 1027 outputs audio based on the analogaudio signal supplied from the audio control section 1026.

An external recording media recording and reproducing section 1028 readsand reproduces content data from external recording media such as CDsand Memory Stick (registered trademark), and records targeted contentdata on the external recording media. Memory Stick comprises flashmemory enclosed in a packaging case.

The external recording media recording and reproducing section 1028reads video data as content data from an external recording medium andsupplies the read video data to the display control section 1024 via thebus 1022.

The display control section 1024 is supplied with the video data read ascontent data from the external recording medium by the externalrecording media recording and reproducing section 1028. The displaycontrol section 1024 then converts the video data into an analog videosignal and sends it to the display section 1025.

The external recording media recording and reproducing section 1028reads audio data as content data from the external recording medium andsupplies the read audio data to the audio control section 1026 via thebus 1022.

When the external recording media recording and reproducing section 1028reads audio data as content data from the external recording medium, theaudio control section 1026 converts the audio data into an analog audiosignal and supplies it to the speaker 1027.

When the external recording media recording and reproducing section 1028reads the content data from the external recording medium, the controlsection 1023 sends that content data to a storage medium 1029 in theclient terminal 1002 via the bus 1022. The control section 1023 canstore the content data in the storage medium 1029. Storing content datain the storage medium 1029 is also referred to as ripping.

When reading video data such as image data as content data from thestorage medium 1029, the control section 1023 supplies the read videodata to the display control section 1024 via the bus 1022.

When reading audio data as content data from the storage medium 1029,the control section 1023 supplies the read audio data to the audiocontrol section 1026 via the bus 1022.

In addition, the control section 1023 can read music data from thestorage medium 1029 and transfers it to the external recording mediarecording and reproducing section 1028 which can then record the musicdata on the external recording medium.

A broadcast signal reception section 1030 receives radio broadcastingwaves transmitted from radio stations and supplies them to the tunersection 1031.

As mentioned above, the broadcast signal reception section 1030 receivesradio broadcasting waves. Under the control of the control section 1023,the tuner section 1031 extracts such radio broadcasting signals from thereceived radio broadcasting waves as to have a broadcasting frequencycorresponding to the radio station specified from the operation inputsection 1020, for example. The tuner section 1031 then applies specifiedreception processing to the extracted signals. The tuner section 1031sends resulting audio data to the audio control section 1026 via the bus1022.

The audio control section 1026 converts the audio data supplied from thetuner section 1031 into an analog audio signal and sends this signal tothe speaker 1027. The speaker 1027 outputs the audio of the radioprogram broadcast from the radio station. In this manner, the user canlisten to the radio program's audio.

The control section 1023 can record audio of radio programs. To do this,the control section 1023 sends audio data acquired by the tuner section1031 to the storage medium 1029 for storage.

Further, the control section 1023 can connect to a specified network viaa communication control section 1032 and a network interface 1033 inorder. Consequently, the control section 1023 can access the portalserver 1003, a service provision server (e.g., the radio broadcastinformation delivery server 1006 to be described later), and the like onthe network. In this manner, the client terminal can interchange variousinformation and data with the portal server 1003, the service provisionserver, and the like.

Compressed and encoded content data is received from the network via thenetwork interface 1033 and the communication control section 1032 inorder. Alternatively, compressed and encoded content data is read fromthe storage medium 1029 and external recording media. An encoder/decodersection 1034 decodes such content data and sends it to the audio controlsection 1026.

Further, the encoder/decoder section 1034 compresses and encodes neithercompressed nor encoded content data read from external recording mediaor audio data supplied from the tuner section 1031. The encoder/decodersection 1034 sends the compressed and encoded content data to thestorage medium 1029.

Under the control of the control section 1023, content data iscompressed and encoded in the encoder/decoder section 1034 and is storedin the storage medium 1029.

A copyright management section 1035 generates copyright managementinformation corresponding to content data that is downloaded from thenetwork via the network interface 1033 and the communication controlsection 1032 in order or is read from external recording media by theexternal recording media recording and reproducing section 1028.

Under the control of the control section 1023, the copyright managementinformation generated in the copyright management section 1035 isassociated with the content data and is registered to the recordingmedium 1029.

The copyright management section 1035 is used to check out content dataassociated with the copyright management information from the storagemedium 1029 to a specific external recording medium and to check in thecontent data associated with the copyright management information fromthe specific external recording medium to the storage medium 1029. Thecopyright management section 1035 appropriately updates contents of thecopyright management information corresponding to the content data toprotect the copyright of the content data.

The client terminal receives XML (eXtensible Markup Language) or HTML(Hyper Text Markup Language) files from the network via the networkinterface 1033 and the communication control section 1032 in order. Apage information generation section 1036 interprets page information ofthese files and generates video data to be displayed on the displaysection 1025. The page information generation section 1036 then sendsthe generated video data to the display control section 1024.

An authentication processing section 1037 performs authenticationprocesses such as sending authentication information to the portalserver 1003 and the service provision server on the network connectedvia the communication control section 1032 and the network interface1033 in order.

An authentication information storage section 1038 stores authenticationinformation needed for the authentication processing section 1037 toaccess the portal server 1003, the service provision server, and thelike.

A radio broadcasting display control section 1039 sends a request signalto the radio broadcast information delivery server 1006 via thecommunication control section 1032 and the network interface 1033 inorder. This request signal is used to request information about theradio broadcast currently received by the user for listening. The radiobroadcast information delivery server 1006 is one of service provisionservers corresponding to the radio station that carries the radiobroadcast being received.

As a result, the radio broadcasting display control section 1039receives the radio broadcast information received from the networkedradio broadcast information delivery server 1006 via the networkinterface 1033 and the communication control section 1032 in order. Inaddition, the radio broadcasting display control section 1039 sends thereceived radio broadcast information to the display control section1024. This allows the display section 1025 to display the radiobroadcast information (equivalent to the associated information in thefirst embodiment) comprising a name of the currently received radioprogram, a title and an artist name of the currently received musicalcomposition, and the like.

(2-2) Portal Server Configuration

With reference to FIG. 14, the following describes the hardwareconfiguration of the portal server 1003 using functional circuit blocks.A control section 1050 in the portal server 1003 controls operations ofcircuits connected via a bus 1051.

Under the control of the control section 1050, a communication controlsection 1052 interchanges various information with the client terminal1002, the service provision server, and the like via a network interface1053.

A customer database section 1054 registers customer informationcomprising user ID (identification) information and associated passwordinformation of a user who has completed a contract with a serviceprovider of the information provision system.

A page information storage section 1055 stores page information and thelike managed by the information provision system's service provider.

The page information is written in languages such as XML and includesURL (Uniform Resource Locator) information to access the serviceprovision server and the like.

An authentication processing section 1056 receives the user IDinformation and the password information sent from the client terminal1002 via the network interface 1053 and the communication controlsection 1052 in order. The authentication processing section 1056 thenperforms a user authentication process to confirm whether or not thecustomer database section 1054 stores the received user ID informationand password information as the customer information.

Upon completion of the user authentication process, the authenticationprocessing section 1056 issues portal authentication result information(authentication session ID information to be described later) indicatingthe result of the user authentication process. The authenticationprocessing section 1056 temporarily stores the issued portalauthentication result information in the authentication informationstorage section 1057.

Let us assume that the user is authenticated to be a registered user asa result of the user authentication process by the authenticationprocessing section 1056. In this case, the control section 1050 sendspage information about a contractor page stored in the page informationstorage section 1055 as well as the portal authentication resultinformation to the client terminal 1002 via the communication controlsection 1052 and the network interface 1053 in order.

Next, let us assume that the user is not authenticated to be aregistered user as a result of the user authentication process by theauthentication processing section 1056. In this case, the controlsection 1050 may be configured to send authentication error informationas well as unsuccessful authentication notification page informationindicating the unsuccessful authentication to the client terminal 1002via the communication control section 1052 and the network interface1053 in order. The unsuccessful authentication notification pageinformation is stored in the page information storage section 1055.

As a result of performing authentication processes for the user from theservice provision server and the like, the authentication processingsection 1056 receives portal authentication result information(authentication ticket to be described later) via the network interface1053 and the communication control section 1052 in order. The portalauthentication result information is acquired and sent from the user'sclient terminal 1002. Then, the authentication processing section 1056compares the received portal authentication result information with theportal authentication result information that is temporarily stored inthe authentication information storage section 1057 corresponding to theuser.

The authentication processing section 1056 performs a confirmationprocess as an authentication process for the portal authenticationresult information received from the service provision server and thelike. Specifically, the authentication processing section 1056 confirmswhether or not the portal authentication result information isauthenticated. The authentication processing section 1056 then returnsconfirmation result information indicating a confirmation result to theservice provision server and the like via the communication controlsection 1052 and the network interface 1053 in order.

A frequency information storage section 1058 stores the followingassociated with each other: an area code such as a postal guide numbercapable of specifying an area; frequency information indicatingbroadcast frequencies for radio broadcasts receivable in the areaindicated by the area code; a name of a radio station (hereafterreferred to as a radio station name) to broadcast the radio broadcast;and a call sign as identification information unique to each radiostation.

A URL storage section 1059 stores the following associated with eachother: a call sign for radio broadcast corresponding to each radiostation; and URL information capable of acquiring radio broadcastinformation (hereafter referred to specifically as now-on-airinformation). This information concerns a currently broadcast radioprogram provided by the radio station corresponding to the call sign andcomprises a name of the radio program, a tile of the musical compositioncurrently broadcast in the radio program, and the like.

(2-3) Functional Circuit Block Configuration of the Radio BroadcastInformation Delivery Server

With reference to FIG. 15, the following describes the hardwareconfiguration of the radio broadcast information delivery server 1006,i.e., one of service provision servers, using functional circuit blocks.A control section 1110 in the radio broadcast information deliveryserver 1006 controls operations of circuits connected via a bus 1111.

Under the control of the control section 1110, a communication controlsection 1112 interchanges various information with the client terminal1002, the portal server 1003, and the like via a network interface 1113.

A customer database section 1114 registers customer informationcomprising user ID information and associated password information of auser who has completed a contract with a service provider of the radiobroadcast information delivery server 1006. The authenticationprocessing section 1115 may have a function to authenticate users basedon the portal authentication result information that is sent from theclient terminal 1002 and is issued by the portal server 1003. In suchcase, the customer database section 1114 may not be provided.

There is provided radio broadcast information called on-air-listinformation. This information is managed by the radio broadcastinformation delivery server 1006 and concerns the radio program alreadybroadcast by the radio station corresponding to the radio broadcastinformation delivery server 1006. A page information storage section1116 stores, for example, page information about an on-air-listinformation delivery page used to acquire the on-air-list information.

Page information about the on-air-list information delivery page iswritten in a language such as XML. There is provided an input box or thelike that allows a user of the client terminal 1002 to enter retrievalkeys for intended on-air-list information. For example, retrieval keysinclude broadcast date information, names, and the like of radioprograms.

An on-air-list information storage section 1117 stores the on-air-listinformation generated in a list format. The on-air-list informationincludes: the name of the radio program already broadcasted from theradio station corresponding to the radio broadcast information deliveryserver 1006; program broadcast start time, program broadcast end time,and the like; and title and artist name of a musical compositionbroadcasted in the radio program, musical composition broadcast starttime, and the like.

The control section 1110 receives a page information acquisition requestsignal to request the page information about the on-air-list informationdelivery page from the client terminal 1002 via the network interface1113 and the communication control section 1112 in order. Correspondingto the received page information acquisition request signal, the controlsection 1110 sends the page information about the on-air-listinformation delivery page stored in the page information storage section1116 to the client terminal 1002 via the communication control section1112 and the network interface 1113 in order.

After the retrieval key is entered for the page information about theon-air-list information delivery page from the client terminal 1002, theretrieval section 1118 stores the retrieval key to retrieve the intendedon-air-list information. When an on-air-list information request signalis transmitted to request download of the on-air-list information, theretrieval section 1118 receives the on-air-list information requestsignal via the network interface 1113 and the communication controlsection 1112 in order. The retrieval section 1118 then extracts theretrieval key from the received on-air-list information request signal.

Based on the retrieval key, the retrieval section 1118 searches theentire on-air-list information in the on-air-list information storagesection 1117 for the targeted on-air-list information within a specifiedrange corresponding to the retrieval condition indicated by theretrieval key.

As a result, the control section 1110 sends the retrieved targetedon-air-list information to the client terminal 1002 via thecommunication control section 1112 and the network interface 1113 inorder.

A now-on-air information storage section 1119 stores radio broadcastinformation called now-on-air information. This information comprises:program name, program broadcast start time, and program broadcast endtime of a radio program currently broadcasted from the radio stationcorresponding to the radio broadcast information delivery server 1006;and title, artist name, musical composition broadcast start time, andthe like of a musical composition currently broadcasted in the radioprogram.

The client terminal 1002 sends not only a now-on-air information requestsignal to request to acquire the now-on-air information, but also userID information and password information of the user who uses the clientterminal 1002. The authentication processing section 1115 receives thesepieces of information via the network interface 1113 and thecommunication control section 1112 in order. The authenticationprocessing section 1115 then performs the user authentication process toconfirm whether or not the received user ID information and passwordinformation are registered as the customer information in the customerdatabase section 1114.

Further, the authentication processing section 1115 uses a userauthentication technique different from the user authentication processthat uses the user ID information and the password information. That isto say, the client terminal 1002 sends the portal authentication resultinformation (authentication ticket to be described later) that is issuedfrom the portal server 1003. The authentication processing section 1115receives this information via the network interface 1113 and thecommunication control section 1112 in order. The authenticationprocessing section 1115 then sends the received portal authenticationresult information to the portal server 1003 via the communicationcontrol section 1112 and the network interface 1113 in order.

After the authentication processing section 1115 sends the portalauthentication result information to the portal server 1003, the portalserver 1003 returns confirmation result information as a result ofperforming the authentication process (i.e., the above-mentionedconfirmation process) corresponding to the portal authentication resultinformation. The authentication processing section 1115 receives theconfirmation result information via the network interface 1113 and thecommunication control section 1112 in order. Based on the receivedconfirmation result information, the authentication processing section1115 determines whether or not the user is a registered user who hascompleted a contract with the service provider of a music relatedservice provision system 1000.

After terminating the user authentication process, the authenticationprocessing section 1115 issues server authentication result information(service session ID information to be described later) indicating theresult of the user authentication process.

Let us assume that the user is authenticated to be a registered user asa result of the user authentication process performed by theauthentication processing section 1115. In this case, the controlsection 1110 sends the now-on-air information stored in the now-on-airinformation storage section 1119 as well as the server authenticationresult information to the client terminal 1002 via the communicationcontrol section 1112 and the network interface 1113 in order.

By contrast, let us assume that the user is not authenticated to be aregistered user as a result of the user authentication process performedby the authentication processing section 1115. In this case, the controlsection 1110 sends authentication error information as well asunsuccessful authentication notification page information to the clientterminal 1002 via the communication control section 1112 and the networkinterface 1113 in order. The unsuccessful authentication notificationpage information is stored in the page information storage section 1116and indicates unsuccessful authentication.

In this manner, the control section 1110 functions in response to arequest to acquire the now-on-air information from the user as follows.When the user is authenticated to be a registered user, the controlsection 1110 provides the now-on-air information. When the user is notauthenticated to be a registered user, however, the control section 1110prevents the user from receiving radio broadcast information deliveryservices provided by the radio broadcast information delivery server1006 such as the now-on-air information delivery service.

The authentication information storage section 1120 temporarily storesthe server authentication result information issued from theauthentication processing section 1115. The authentication informationstorage section 1120 also stores various authentication informationneeded when the authentication processing section 1115 authenticates auser of the client terminal 1002.

(2-4) Process Overview of the Servers

With reference to sequence charts in FIGS. 16 through 19, the followingoutlines processes performed between the client terminal 1002 and theportal server 1003 and processes performed between the client terminal1002 and each service provision server.

(2-4-1) User Authentication Process between the Client Terminal 1002 andthe Portal Server 1003

With reference to FIG. 16, the following describes a user authenticationprocess performed between the client terminal 1002 and the portal server1003.

The control section 1023 corresponds to the client terminal 1002 for theuser who contracts with the information provision system's serviceprovider. For example, the user performs an operation to turn on theclient terminal 1002. Alternatively, the user presses a specificoperation button on the operation input section 1020. In response tosuch operation, the operation input section 1020 recognizes an operationinput signal. The input processing section 1021 converts this signalinto an operation command. The control section 1023 is supplied withthis command and starts an authentication request process.

After starting the authentication request process, the control section1023, at step SP1000, generates a connection request signal containingthe authentication session ID information and the like temporarilystored in the authentication information storage section 1038. Thecontrol section 1023 sends the generated connection request signal tothe portal server 1003 via the communication control section 1032 andthe network interface 1033 in order.

The client terminal 1002 establishes a communication connection with theportal server 1003 to perform various processes such as the userauthentication process. Each time this communication connection isestablished, the portal server 1003 issues the authentication session IDinformation as identification information to identify respectivecommunication connection states (i.e., sessions).

For the use with the user authentication process and the like, theauthentication session ID information is assigned with a specified validperiod (e.g., approximately one minute) with reference to the time ofissuance from the portal server 1003.

The client terminal 1002 acquires the authentication session IDinformation from the portal server 1003. There may be a case where theclient terminal 1002 cannot supply the authentication session IDinformation to the portal server 1003 within the valid period. In suchcase, the portal server 1003 determines cancellation of thecommunication connection state specified by the authentication sessionID information.

In this manner, the portal server 1003 prevents the previously issuedauthentication session ID information from being falsely used by a usernot contracted with the service provider of the music related serviceprovision system 1.

The authentication information storage section 1038 temporarily storesthe authentication session ID information. This authentication sessionID information was issued by the portal server 1003 that establishedcommunication connection with the client terminal 1002 to perform theuser authentication process and the like.

The client terminal 1002 sends a connection request signal. In responseto this, at step SP1001, the control section 1050 of the portal server1003 receives the connection request signal via the network interface1053 and the communication control section 1052 in order. The receivedconnection request signal contains the authentication session IDinformation and the like. The control section 1050 sends theauthentication session ID information and the like to the authenticationprocessing section 1056.

Under the control of the control section 1050, the authenticationprocessing section 1056 performs the user authentication process basedon the authentication session ID information and the like received asthe connection request signal from the client terminal 1002.

As a result, the authentication processing section 1056 may not be ableto authenticate the user of the client terminal 1002 to be a registereduser due to expiration of the valid period specified in theauthentication session ID information and the like received from theclient terminal 1002. In such case, the control section 1050 sends theauthentication error information indicating an authentication error tothe client terminal 1002 via the communication control section 1052 andthe network interface 1053 in order.

At step SP1002, the control section 1023 of the client terminal 1002receives the authentication error information sent from the portalserver 1003 via the network interface 1033 and the communication controlsection 1032 in order. In response to this, the control section 1023reads the user ID information, the password information, and the likestored in the authentication information storage section 1038. Thecontrol section 1023 sends the read user ID information, passwordinformation, and the like to the portal server 1003 via thecommunication control section 1032 and the network interface 1033 inorder.

At step SP1003, the control section 1050 of the portal server 1003receives the user ID information, the password information, and the likesent from the client terminal 1002 via the network interface 1053 andthe communication control section 1052 in order. The control section1050 sends these pieces of information to the authentication processingsection 1056.

Under the control of the control section 1050, the authenticationprocessing section 1056 performs the user authentication process.Specifically, the authentication processing section 1056 checks if thereceived user ID information, password information, and the like areincluded in the customer information registered to the customer databasesection 1054.

As a result, the authentication processing section 1056 may authenticatethe user of the client terminal 1002 to be a registered user. In thiscase, under the control of the control section 1050, the authenticationprocessing section 1056 issues the portal authentication resultinformation, i.e., the authentication session ID information and thelike about communication connection state between the client terminal1002 and the portal server 1003 at this time. In addition, theauthentication processing section 1056 temporarily stores theauthentication session ID information and the like in the authenticationinformation storage section 1057.

After the authentication processing section 1056 issued theauthentication session ID information and the like to the clientterminal 1002, the control section 1050 sends these pieces ofinformation to the client terminal 1002 via the communication controlsection 1052 and the network interface 1053 in order.

At step SP1004, the control section 1023 of the client terminal 1002receives the authentication session ID information and the like sentfrom the portal server 1003 via the network interface 1033 and thecommunication control section 1032 in order. The control section 1023then sends the received authentication session ID information and thelike to the authentication processing section 1037.

Under the control of the control section 1023, the authenticationprocessing section 1037 temporarily stores the received authenticationsession ID information and the like in the authentication informationstorage section 1038.

The control section 1023 receives the page information acquisitionrequest signal from the portal server 1003 to request the portal server1003 for the page information. The control section 1023 sends thereceived signal together with the authentication session ID informationand the like temporarily stored in the authentication informationstorage section 1038 to the portal server 1003 via the communicationcontrol section 1032 and the network interface 1033 in order.

At step SP1005, the control section 1050 of the portal server 1003receives the page information acquisition request signal, theauthentication session ID information, and the like sent from the clientterminal 1002 via the network interface 1053 and the communicationcontrol section 1052 in order. The control section 1050 sends thereceived authentication session ID information and the like to theauthentication processing section 1056.

Under the control of the control section 1050, the authenticationprocessing section 1056 performs the user authentication process.Specifically, the authentication processing section 1056 compares thereceived authentication session ID information and the like with theauthentication session ID information and the like that were issued tothe client terminal 1002 at the above-mentioned step SP1003 and weretemporarily stored in the authentication information storage section1057.

As a result, at step SP1006, the authentication processing section 1056authenticates the user of the client terminal 1002 to be a registereduser. The authentication processing section 1056 determines that theterminal 1002 issued the valid acquisition request for the pageinformation. The authentication processing section 1056 extends thevalid period for the authentication session ID information and the likeissued to the client terminal 1002.

At this time, the control section 1050 reads the user-requested pageinformation from the page information storage section 1055. The controlsection 1050 sends the read page information, the authentication sessionID information, and the like to the client terminal 1002 via thecommunication control section 1052 and the network interface 1053 inorder. At this time, the authentication session ID information and thelike are assigned with the valid period extended by the authenticationprocessing section 1056.

At step SP1007, the control section 1023 of the client terminal 1002receives the page information sent from the portal server 1003 and theauthentication session ID information with the extended valid period andthe like via the network interface 1033 and the communication controlsection 1032 in order. The control section 1023 sends the received pageinformation to the page information generation section 1036 and sendsthe authentication session ID information with the extended valid periodand the like to the authentication processing section 1037.

Based on the page information supplied from the control section 1023,the page information generation section 1036 generates video dataembedded with links to the service provision servers. The pageinformation generation section 1036 sends the generated video data tothe display control section 1024.

The display control section 1024 applies a digital-analog conversionprocess to the video data supplied from the page information generationsection 1036. The display control section 1024 then sends the convertedanalog video signal to the display section 1025. As a result, thedisplay section 1025 displays the page of the portal server 1003 as avideo based on the analog video signal.

The authentication processing section 1037 updates the authenticationsession ID information and the like temporarily stored at theabove-mentioned step SP1004 to the authentication session ID informationwith the extended valid period and the like as follows. Under thecontrol of the control section 1023, the authentication processingsection 1037 temporarily stores the authentication session IDinformation with the extended valid period and the like received fromthe portal server 1003 in the authentication information storage section1038 so as to overwrite the authentication session ID information havingthe valid period not extended and the like.

(2-4-2) User Authentication Process between the Client Terminal 1002 andthe Service Provision Server

With reference to FIG. 17, the following describes the userauthentication process performed between the client terminal 1002 andeach service provision server.

Actually, there are provided a plurality of service provision serverscorresponding to provided services such as the radio broadcastinformation delivery server 1006, a music data delivery server (notshown), and the like. The same user authentication process is performedbetween the client terminal 2 and whichever of these service provisionservers.

For this reason, each service provision server comprises the componentsneeded to perform the user authentication process such as the controlsection, the authentication processing section, the page informationstorage section, the authentication information storage section, thecommunication control section, and the network interface. For example,the radio broadcast information delivery server comprises the controlsection 1110, the authentication processing section 1115, the pageinformation storage section 1116, the authentication information storagesection 1116, the communication control section 1112, and the networkinterface 1113.

In one case, the user authentication process is performed when theclient terminal 1002 accesses the service provision servers according tolinks in, the page information acquired from the portal server 1003. Inanother case, the user authentication process is performed when theclient terminal 1002 accesses the service provision servers according tothe URL information and the like already registered as bookmarks. Ineither case, the user authentication process is performed in the sameprocedure.

In consideration for this, the following describes the userauthentication process in detail.

At step SP1010, the control section 1023 of the client terminal 1002follows the URL information embedded as links in the page information orthe URL information and the like already registered as bookmarks. Thecontrol section 1023 then sends the page information acquisition requestsignal as well as the service session ID information and the like readfrom the authentication information storage section 1038 to the serviceprovision server via the communication control section 1032 and thenetwork interface 1033 in order. The page information acquisitionrequest signal requests to acquire the page information about theservice provision page, e.g., the on-air-list information delivery pagefor the radio broadcast information delivery server.

The client terminal 1002 establishes a communication connection witheach service provision server to perform various processes such as theuser authentication process. Each time this communication connection isestablished, the service provision server accessed by the clientterminal 1002 issues the service session ID information asidentification information to identify respective communicationconnection states (i.e., sessions).

For the use with the user authentication process and the like, theservice session ID information, like the authentication session IDinformation, is assigned with a specified valid period (e.g.,approximately one minute) with reference to the time of issuance fromeach service provision server.

The client terminal 1002 acquires the service session ID informationfrom each service provision server. There may be a case where the clientterminal 1002 cannot supply the service session ID information to theinformation-issuing service provision server within the valid period. Insuch case, the information-issuing service provision server determinescancellation of the communication connection state specified by theservice session ID information.

In this manner, each service provision server prevents the previouslyissued service session ID information from being falsely used by a usernot contracted with the service provider of the information provisionsystem.

The authentication information storage section 1038 temporarily storesthe service session ID information. This service session ID informationwas issued by the access destination service provision server thatestablished communication connection with the client terminal 1002 toperform the user authentication process and the like.

At step SP1011, the service provision server's control section receivesthe page information acquisition request signal, the service session IDinformation, and the like sent from the client terminal 1002 via thenetwork interface and the communication control section in order. Thecontrol section sends the received service session ID information andthe like to the authentication processing section.

Under the control of the control section, the authentication processingsection performs the user authentication process. Specifically, theauthentication processing section compares the received service sessionID information and the like with the service session ID information andthe like temporarily stored in the authentication information storagesection.

As a result, the authentication processing section may not be able toauthenticate the user of the client terminal 1002 to be a registereduser, e.g., due to expiration of the valid period for the servicesession ID information received from the client terminal 1002. In suchcase, the authentication processing section determines that the clientterminal 1002 issued an invalid acquisition request for the pageinformation about the service provision page.

In this case, the control section sends authentication error informationand a shop code to the client terminal 1002 via the communicationcontrol section and the network interface in order. The authenticationerror information indicates an authentication error. The shop code isprovided as service identification information to identify the serviceprovision server.

At step SP1012, the control section 1023 of the client terminal 1002receives the authentication error information and the shop code sentfrom the service provision server via the network interface 1033 and thecommunication control section 1032 in order. According to the receivedauthentication error information, the control section 1023 determinesthat the service provision server does not authenticate the user as aregistered user. In addition, the control section 1023 temporarilystores the shop code received from the service provision server in theauthentication information storage section 1038.

The control section 1023 generates an authentication ticket issuancerequest signal that requests the portal server 1003 to issue anauthentication ticket for access to the service provision server. Thecontrol section 1023 then sends the generated authentication ticketissuance request signal, the service provision server's shop code, theauthentication session ID information, and the like to the portal server1003 via the communication control section 1032 and the networkinterface 1033 in order. It should be noted that the authenticationsession ID information and the like are already received from the portalserver 1003 and are temporarily stored in the authentication informationstorage section 1038.

At step SP1013, the control section 1050 of the portal server 1003receives the authentication ticket issuance request signal, the shopcode, the authentication session ID information, and the like sent fromthe client terminal 1002 via the network interface 1053 and thecommunication control section 1052 in order. The control section 1050then sends these pieces of information to the authentication processingsection 1056.

Under the control of the control section 1050, the authenticationprocessing section 1056 performs the user authentication process.Specifically, the control section 1056 compares the authenticationsession ID information and the like with the authentication session IDinformation and the like temporarily stored in the authenticationinformation storage section 1057.

As a result, the authentication processing section 1056 may not be ableto authenticate the user of the client terminal 1002 to be a registereduser, e.g., due to expiration of the valid period for the authenticationsession ID information received from the client terminal 1002. In suchcase, the authentication processing section 1056 determines that theclient terminal 1002 issued an invalid acquisition request for theauthentication ticket.

In this case, the control section 1050 sends authentication errorinformation indicating an authentication error to the client terminal1002 via the communication control section 1052 and the networkinterface 1053 in order.

By contrast, there may be a case where the valid period still takeseffect for the authentication session ID information received from theclient terminal 1002. In such case, the authentication processingsection 1056 authenticates the user of the client terminal 1002 to be aregistered user. The authentication processing section 1056 determinesthat the client terminal 1002 issues a valid request for theauthentication ticket. In this case, the control section 1050 returns tostep SP1018 to be described later.

At step SP1014, the control section 1023 of the client terminal 1002receives the authentication error information sent from the portalserver 1003 via the network interface 1033 and the communication controlsection 1032 in order. The control section 1023 then reads the user IDinformation, the password information, and the like stored in theauthentication information storage section 1038. In addition, thecontrol section 1023 sends these pieces of information to the portalserver 1003 via the communication control section 1032 and the networkinterface 1033 in order.

At step SP1015, the control section 1050 of the portal server 1003receives the user ID information, the password information, and the likesent from the client terminal 1002 via the network interface 1053 andthe communication control section 1052 in order. The control section1050 then sends these pieces of information to the authenticationprocessing section 1056.

Under the control of the control section 1050, the authenticationprocessing section 1056 performs the user authentication process.Specifically, the authentication processing section 1056 checks whetheror not the customer information registered to the customer databasesection 1054 contains the received user ID information, the passwordinformation, and the like.

As a result, the authentication processing section 1056 authenticatesthe user of the client terminal 1002 to be a registered user. Under thecontrol of the control section 1050, the authentication processingsection 1056 issues the portal authentication result information, i.e.,the authentication session ID information and the like about the stateof communication connection between the client terminal 1002 and theportal server 1003 at the present time. The authentication processingsection 1056 temporarily stores the issued authentication session IDinformation and the like in the authentication information storagesection 1057.

After the authentication processing section 1056 issues theauthentication session ID information and the like to the clientterminal 1002, the control section 1050 sends the authentication sessionID information and the like to the client terminal 1002 via thecommunication control section 1052 and the network interface 1053 inorder.

At step SP1016, the control section 1023 of the client terminal 1002receives the authentication session ID information and the like sentfrom the portal server 1003 via the network interface 1033 and thecommunication control section 1032 in order. The authenticationprocessing section 1037 temporarily stores the received authenticationsession ID information and the like in the authentication informationstorage section 1038.

The control section 1023 generates an authentication ticket issuancerequest signal that re-requests the portal server 1003 to issue anauthentication ticket. The control section 1023 sends the generatedauthentication ticket issuance request signal as well as the shop codetemporarily stored in the authentication information storage section1038 and the authentication session ID information and the liketemporarily stored at this time to the portal server 1003 via thecommunication control section 1032 and the network interface 1033 inorder.

According to the embodiment, the client terminal 1002 temporarily storesthe shop code in the authentication information storage section 1038.The present invention is not limited thereto. When performing theprocess at steps SP1012 through SP1016, the client terminal 1002 cansequentially exchange the shop code with the portal server 1003. In thismanner, the client terminal 1002 need not temporarily store the shopcode in the authentication information storage section 1038.Nevertheless, it is possible to send the shop code to the portal server1003 at step SP1016.

At step SP1017, the control section 1050 of the portal server 1003receives the authentication ticket issuance request signal, the shopcode, the authentication session ID information, and the like sent fromthe client terminal 1002 via the network interface 1053 and thecommunication control section 1052 in order. The control section 1050sends the received authentication ticket issuance request signal and thelike to the authentication processing section 1056.

Under the control of the control section 1050, the authenticationprocessing section 1056 performs the user authentication process.Specifically, the authentication processing section 1056 compares thereceived authentication session ID information and the like with theauthentication session ID information and the like temporarily stored inthe authentication information storage section 1057.

As a result, there may be a case where the valid period still takeseffect for the authentication session ID information and the likereceived from the client terminal 1002. In such case, the authenticationprocessing section 1056 authenticates the user of the client terminal1002 to be a registered user. The authentication processing section 1056determines that the client terminal 1002 issues a valid request for theauthentication ticket.

At step SP1018, under the control of the control section 1050, based onthe shop code and the authentication ticket issuance request signalreceived from the client terminal 1002 at the above-mentioned stepSP1017. The authentication processing section 1056 issues the portalauthentication result information, i.e., an authentication ticket andthe like to enable access to the service provision server indicated bythe shop code.

Under the control of the control section 1050, the authenticationprocessing section 1056 temporarily stores the issued authenticationticket and the like in the authentication information storage section1057. In addition, the authentication processing section 1056 extendsthe valid period for the authentication session ID information and thelike issued to the client terminal 1002.

That is to say, the authentication processing section 1056 has issuedthe authentication ticket and the like and extended the valid period ofthe authentication session ID information and the like. Thereafter, thecontrol section 1050 sends these authentication ticket and the like andauthentication session ID information and the like to the clientterminal 1002 via the communication control section 1052 and the networkinterface 1053 in order.

At step SP1019, the control section 1023 of the client terminal 1002receives the authentication ticket and the like sent from the portalserver 1003 and the authentication session ID information with theextended valid period via the network interface 1033 and thecommunication control section 1032 in order. The control section 1023sends the received authentication session ID information to theauthentication processing section 1037.

The control section 1023 sends the authentication ticket and the likereceived from the portal server 1003 together with the authenticationrequest signal to the service provision server via the communicationcontrol section 1032 and the network interface 1033 in order.

At this time, under the control of the control section 1023, theauthentication processing section 1037 temporarily stores theauthentication session ID information having the extended valid periodreceived from the portal server 1003 in the authentication informationstorage section 1038 so as to overwrite the authentication session IDinformation having the valid period not extended. In this manner, theauthentication processing section 1037 updates the authenticationsession ID information temporarily stored at the above-mentioned stepSP1016 to the authentication session ID information having the extendedvalid period.

At step SP1020, the control section of the service provision serverreceives the authentication request signal, the authentication ticket,and the like sent from the client terminal 1002 via the networkinterface and the communication control section in order.

The control section sends the authentication ticket and the likereceived from the client terminal 1002 together with an authenticationticket confirmation request signal for requesting confirmation of theauthentication ticket and the like to the portal server 1003 via thecommunication control section and the network interface in order.

At step SP1021, the control section 1050 of the portal server 1003receives the authentication ticket confirmation request signal, theauthentication ticket, and the like sent from the service provisionserver via the network interface 1053 and the communication controlsection 1052 in order. The control section 1050 then sends the receivedauthentication ticket confirmation request signal, the authenticationticket, and the like to the authentication processing section 1056.

Under the control of the control section 1050, the authenticationprocessing section 1056 performs a confirmation process for theauthentication ticket received from the service provision server inresponse to the authentication ticket confirmation request signal.Specifically, the authentication processing section 1056 compares thereceived authentication ticket and the like with the authenticationticket and the like temporarily stored in the authentication informationstorage section 1057.

As a result, the authentication processing section 1056 confirms thatthe genuine authentication ticket and the like are received from theservice provision server. In this case, the control section 1050 sendsconfirmation result information to the service provision server via thecommunication control section 1052 and the network interface 1053 inorder. The confirmation result information indicates that the receivedauthentication ticket and the like are confirmed to be genuine.

At step SP1022, the control section of the service provision serverreceives the confirmation result information sent from the portal server1003 via the network interface and the communication control section inorder. The control section sends the received confirmation resultinformation to the authentication processing section.

Under the control of the control section, the authentication processingsection responds to the confirmation result information and issuesserver authentication result information, i.e., service session IDinformation and the like about the state of communication connectionbetween the client terminal 1002 and the service provision server at thepresent time. In addition, the authentication processing sectiontemporarily stores the issued service session ID information and thelike in the authentication information storage section.

After the authentication processing section issued the service sessionID information and the like to the client terminal 1002, the controlsection sends these pieces of information to the client terminal 1002via the communication control section and the network interface inorder.

At step SP1023, the control section 1023 of the client terminal 1002receives the service session ID information and the like sent from theservice provision server via the network interface 1033 and thecommunication control section 1032 in order. The authenticationprocessing section 1037 temporarily stores the received service sessionID information and the like in the authentication information storagesection 1038.

The control section 1023 sends the page information acquisition requestsignal, the service session ID information, and the like to the serviceprovision server via the communication control section 1032 and thenetwork interface 1033 in order. The page information acquisitionrequest signal requests the page information about the service provisionpage. The service session ID information is temporarily stored in theauthentication information storage section 1038.

As step SP1024, the control section of the service provision serverreceives the page information acquisition request signal, the servicesession ID information, and the like sent from the client terminal 1002via the network interface and the communication control section inorder. The control section then sends the received service session IDinformation and the like to the authentication processing section.

Under the control of the control section, the authentication processingsection performs the user authentication process. Specifically, thecontrol section compares the received service session ID information andthe like with the service session ID information and the like that arealready issued to the client terminal 1002 at the above-mentioned stepSP1022 and are temporarily stored in the authentication informationstorage section.

As a result, there may be a case where the valid period still takeseffect for the service session ID information and the like received fromthe client terminal 1002. In such case, the authentication processingsection authenticates the user of the client terminal 1002 to be aregistered user. Then, the authentication processing section determinesthat the client terminal 1002 issues a valid request to acquire the pageinformation about the service provision page.

The control section then proceeds to the next step SP1025. At stepSP1025, the control section reads the page information about theuser-requested service provision page from the page information storagesection. In addition, the control section allows the authenticationprocessing section to extend the valid period for the service session IDinformation and the like issued to the client terminal 1002.

The control section sends the page information about the serviceprovision page read from the page information storage section togetherwith the service session ID information and the like to the clientterminal 1002 via the communication control section and the networkinterface in order. The service session ID information and the like havethe valid period extended by the authentication processing section.

At step SP1026, the control section 1023 of the client terminal 1002receives the page information about the service provision page, theservice session ID information having the extended valid period, fromthe service provision server via the network interface 1033 and thecommunication control section 1032 in order. The control section 1023sends the page information about the received service provision page tothe page information generation section 1036. In addition, the controlsection 1023 sends the received service session ID information and thelike to the authentication processing section 1037.

Under the control of the control section 1023, the authenticationprocessing section 1037 temporarily stores the received service sessionID information having the extended valid period in the authenticationinformation storage section 1038 so as to overwrite the service sessionID information having the valid period not extended and the like. Inthis manner, the authentication processing section 1037 updates theservice session ID information and the like temporarily stored at theabove-mentioned step SP1023 to the service session ID information havingthe extended valid period.

Further, the page information generation section 1036 generates videodata based on the page information about the service provision page. Thepage information generation section 1036 sends the generated video datato the display control section 1024.

The display control section 1024 applies a digital-analog conversionprocess to the video data supplied from the page information generationsection 1036. The display control section 1024 then sends the convertedanalog video signal to the display section 1025. As a result, thedisplay section 1025 displays the service provision page as a videobased on the analog video signal.

(2-4-3) Radio Broadcast Information Delivery Service Provision Processes

Referring now to FIGS. 18 and 19, the following describes a radiobroadcast information delivery service provision process. This processtakes place after termination of the user authentication process (FIG.17) performed between the client terminal 1002 and the service provisionserver as mentioned above. The process uses the page information aboutthe service provision page acquired by the client terminal 1002 from theservice provision server during the user authentication process. In thismanner, a radio broadcast information delivery service is provided fromthe radio broadcast information delivery server, one of the serviceprovision servers, for example.

(2-4-3-1) On-Air-List Information Delivery Service Provision Process

With reference to FIG. 18, the following describes the radio broadcastinformation delivery service provision process. During this process, theclient terminal 1002 is provided with a radio broadcast informationdelivery service, especially an on-air-list information delivery servicefrom the radio broadcast information delivery server 1006.

For example, the user enters retrieval key to retrieve intendedon-air-list information into an input box of the on-air-list informationdelivery page displayed as a video on the display section 1025. Theinput processing section 1021 inputs a control command corresponding toa character string indicating the entered retrieval key. At step SP1060,the control section 1023 of the client terminal 1002 responds to theentered control command and generates an on-air-list information requestsignal to request download of the intended on-air-list information.

The control section 1023 sends the on-air-list information requestsignal together with the service session ID information and the like tothe radio broadcast information delivery server 1006 via thecommunication control section 1032 and the network interface 1033 inorder. The service session ID information and the like are alreadyissued by the radio broadcast information delivery server 1006 and aretemporarily stored in the authentication information storage section1038.

At step SP1061, the control section 1110 of the radio broadcastinformation delivery server 1006 receives the on-air-list informationrequest signal, the service session ID information, and the like sentfrom the client terminal 1002 via the network interface 1113 and thecommunication control section 1112 in order. The control section 1110then sends the received service session ID information and the like tothe authentication processing section 1115.

Under the control of the control section 1110, the authenticationprocessing section 1115 performs the user authentication process.Specifically, the authentication processing section 1115 compares thereceived service session ID information and the like with the servicesession ID information and the like temporarily stored in theauthentication information storage section 1120.

As a result, the authentication processing section 1115 may authenticatethe user to be a registered user who requested the on-air-listinformation using the client terminal 1002. In this case, the controlsection 1110 proceeds to the next step SP1062.

At step SP1062, based on the retrieval key stored in the on-air-listinformation request signal, the retrieval section 1118 searches theentire on-air-list information in the on-air-list information storagesection 1117 for the targeted on-air-list information within a specifiedrange corresponding to the retrieval condition indicated by theretrieval key.

Let us assume that the retrieval section 1118 retrieves the on-air-listinformation. The control section 1110 allows the authenticationprocessing section 1115 to extend the valid period for the servicesession ID information and the like issued to the client terminal 1002.The control section 1110 then proceeds to the next step SP1063.

At step SP1063, the control section 1110 reads the on-air-listinformation retrieved by the retrieval section 1118 from the on-air-listinformation storage section 1117. In addition, the control section 1110sends the read on-air-list information together with the service sessionID information and the like to the client terminal 1002 via thecommunication control section 1112 and the network interface 1113 inorder. At this time, the service session ID information has the validperiod extended by the authentication processing section 1115.

At step SP1064, the control section 1023 of the client terminal 1002receives the on-air-list information sent from the radio broadcastinformation delivery server 1006, the service session ID informationhaving the extended valid period, and the like via the network interface1033 and the communication control section 1032 in order. The controlsection 1023 sends the received on-air-list information to the pageinformation generation section 1036. In addition, the control section1023 sends the service session ID information and the like received fromthe radio broadcast information delivery server 1006 to theauthentication processing section 1037.

Under the control of the control section 1023, the authenticationprocessing section 1037 temporarily stores the received service sessionID information having the extended valid period in the authenticationinformation storage section 1038 so as to overwrite the service sessionID information having the valid period not extended. In this manner, theauthentication processing section 1037 updates the contents of theservice session ID information and the like temporarily stored in theauthentication information storage section 1038.

The page information generation section 1036 generates video data basedon the on-air-list information supplied from the control section 1023.The display control section 1024 converts the generated video data intoan analog video signal and sends it to the display section 1025. Thedisplay section 1025 displays the on-air-list information as a videobased on the analog video signal.

In this manner, the client terminal 1002 can allow the user to acquireintended on-air-list information by using the radio broadcastinformation delivery service provided by the radio broadcast informationdelivery server 1006.

(2-4-3-2) Now-on-Air Information Delivery Service Provision Process

With reference to FIG. 19, the following describes a radio broadcastinformation delivery service provision process. During this process, theclient terminal 1002 is provided with a radio broadcast informationdelivery service, especially a now-on-air information delivery servicefrom the radio broadcast information delivery server 1006.

The radio broadcast information delivery server 1006 to supplynow-on-air information is provided for each radio station (call sign).

Initially, the client terminal 1002 may not store URL information aboutthe radio broadcast information delivery server 1006 corresponding toeach radio station.

The following radio broadcast information delivery service provisionprocess exemplifies a case where the portal server 1003 manages URLinformation about each radio broadcast information delivery server 1006for each call sign.

According to the radio broadcast information delivery service provisionprocess, the client terminal 1002 may need to automatically preset abroadcast frequency for each radio station. For this purpose, the clientterminal 1002 requests the portal server 1003 for frequency informationindicating that broadcast frequency. In such case, it is assumed thatthe authentication information storage section 1038 does not temporarilystore the authentication session ID information and the like.Consequently, the client terminal 1002 first needs to send the user IDinformation, the password information, and the like to the portal server1003.

When the input processing section 1021 inputs an operation command torequest to automatically preset the broadcast frequency of each radiostation. In response to this command, at step SP1070, the controlsection 1023 of the client terminal 1002 sends a frequency informationrequest signal to request to acquire frequency information about abroadcast frequency which each radio station can receive. The controlsection 1023 sends the frequency information request signal togetherwith an area code input by the user, the user ID information, thepassword information, and the like stored in the authenticationinformation storage section 1038 to the portal server 1003 via thecommunication control section 1032 and the network interface 1033 inorder.

At step SP1071, the control section 1050 of the portal server 1003receives the frequency information request signal, the area code, theuser ID information, the password information, and the like sent fromthe client terminal 1002 via the network interface 1053 and thecommunication control section 1052 in order. Of these pieces ofinformation, the control section 1050 sends the user ID information, thepassword information, and the like to the authentication processingsection 1056.

Under the control of the control section 1050, the authenticationprocessing section 1056 performs the user authentication process.Specifically, the authentication processing section 1056 compares thereceived user ID information, the password information, and the likewith the customer information registered in the customer databasesection 1054.

As a result, the authentication processing section 1056 may authenticatethe user of the client terminal 1002 to be a registered user. Further,the authentication processing section 1056 may determine that the clientterminal 1002 issued a valid request to acquire the frequencyinformation. Under the control of the control section 1050, theauthentication processing section 1056 issues the authentication sessionID information and the like about the state of communication connectionbetween the client terminal 1002 and the portal server 1003 at thepresent time. The authentication processing section 1056 temporarilystores the issued authentication session ID information and the like inthe authentication information storage section 1057.

The control section 1050 then proceeds to the next step SP1072. At stepSP1072, the control section 1050 performs a search based on the areacode received from the client terminal 1002. That is to say, the controlsection 1050 searches a list of a plurality of frequency information,radio station names, and call signs in the frequency information storagesection 1058 for those corresponding to the area code and reads them ina list format.

The control section 1050 reads the frequency information, the radiostation name, and the call sign in a list form from the frequencyinformation storage section 1058 and sends them along with theauthentication session ID information and the like to the clientterminal 1002 via the communication control section 1052 and the networkinterface 1053 in order. The authentication session ID information andthe like were issued to the client terminal 1002 by the authenticationprocessing section 1056 at the above-mentioned step SP1071.

At step SP1073, the control section 1023 of the client terminal 1002receives the list of frequency information, radio station name, and callsign sent from the portal server 1003 as well as the authenticationsession ID information and the like via the network interface 1033 andthe communication control section 1032 in order. The control section1023 sends the authentication session ID information and the likereceived from the portal server 1003 to the authentication processingsection 1037. In addition, the control section 1023 sends the list offrequency information, radio station name, and call sign to the displaycontrol section 1024.

Under the control of the control section 1023, the authenticationprocessing section 1037 temporarily stores the received authenticationsession ID information and the like in the authentication informationstorage section 1038.

The display control section 1024 is supplied with the list of frequencyinformation, radio station name, and call sign from the control section1023 and sends the list to the display section 1025. The display section1025 thus displays the list.

At this time, the control section 1023 identifies a selection commandsupplied from the input processing section 1021. Based on this command,the control section 1023 stores the selected frequency information,radio station name, and call sign as a preset in the storage medium1029. The control section 1023 then proceeds to the next step SP1074.

At step SP1074, the control section 1023 identifies a tuning controlcommand supplied from the input processing section 1021. Based on thiscommand, the control section 1023 controls the tuner section 1031 so asto extract a radio broadcasting signal from radio broadcasting waves.This radio broadcasting signal should be used for the radio broadcastcarried at the broadcast frequency corresponding to the tuning controlcommand.

A broadcast signal reception section 30 receives radio broadcastingwaves. Of these radio broadcasting waves, the tuner section 1031extracts the radio broadcasting signal carried at the broadcastfrequency. The tuner section 1031 applies specified reception processessuch as decoding to the extracted radio broadcasting signal. As aresult, audio data is generated. The tuner section 1031 sends this audiodata to the audio control section 1026.

The audio control section 1026 converts the audio data supplied from thetuner section 1031 into an analog audio signal. Then, the audio controlsection 1026 outputs the analog audio signal to the speaker 1027. Thespeaker 1027 thus outputs audio of the selected radio program.

At step SP1075, under the control of the control section 1023, the radiobroadcasting display control section 1039 reads a call sign from thestorage medium 1029. This call sign is stored correspondingly to thefrequency information indicating the broadcast frequency correspondingto the above-mentioned tuning control command. The radio broadcastingdisplay control section 1039 sends the read call sign to the portalserver 1003 via the communication control section 1032 and the networkinterface 1033 in order. Likewise, the radio broadcasting displaycontrol section 1039 sends authentication session ID information(alternatively, user ID information and password information) and thelike temporarily stored in the authentication information storagesection 1038.

At step SP1076, the control section 1050 of the portal server 1003receives the call sign, the authentication session ID information(alternatively, user ID information and password information), and thelike sent from the client terminal 1002 via the network interface 1053and the communication control section 1052 in order. The control section1050 sends the received authentication session ID information(alternatively, user ID information and password information) and thelike to the authentication processing section 1056.

Under the control of the control section 1050, the authenticationprocessing section 1056 performs the user authentication process.Specifically, the authentication processing section 1056 compares thereceived authentication session ID information (alternatively, user IDinformation and password information) and the like with the receivedauthentication session ID information (alternatively, user IDinformation and password information) and the like temporarily stored inthe authentication information storage section 1057.

As a result, the authentication processing section 1056 may confirm thatthe authentication session ID information and the like are received fromthe client terminal 1002 within the valid period, for example. When theuser sent the call sign using the client terminal 1002, theauthentication processing section 1056 may authenticate this user to bea registered user. In such case, the control section 1050 proceeds tothe next step SP1077.

At step SP1077, the control section 1050 searches a plurality of URLinformation in the URL storage section 1059 for the URL informationcorresponding to the call sign based on the call sign received from theclient terminal 1002.

The control section 1050 allows the authentication processing section1056 to extend the valid period of the authentication session IDinformation and the like issued to the client terminal 1002.

The control section 1050 reads the retrieved URL information from theURL storage section 1059. The control section 1050 sends the read URLinformation as well as the authentication session ID information and thelike having the valid period extended by the authentication processingsection 1056 to the client terminal 1002 via the communication controlsection 1052 and the network interface 1053 in order. Further, at stepSP1077, the control section 1050 may send the state information as wellas the URL information and authentication session ID. The stateinformation indicates service states such as whether or not the radiobroadcast information delivery server 1006 currently provides thenow-on-air information service.

At step SP1078, the control section 1023 of the client terminal 1002receives the URL information and the authentication session IDinformation having the extended valid period and the like sent from theportal server 1003 via the network interface 1033 and the communicationcontrol section 1032 in order. The control section 1023 sends thereceived authentication session ID information and the like to theauthentication processing section 1037. The control section 1023 sendsthe URL information to the radio broadcasting display control section1039. When receiving the state information from the portal server 1003,the control section 1023 sends this state information to the radiobroadcasting control section 1039.

Under the control of the control section 1023, the authenticationprocessing section 1037 temporarily stores the received authenticationsession ID information having the extended valid period in theauthentication information storage section 1038 to overwrite theauthentication session ID information having the valid period notextended. In this manner, the authentication processing section 1037updates the contents of the authentication session ID information andthe like temporarily stored in the authentication information storagesection 1038.

Under the control of the control section 1023, the radio broadcastingdisplay control section 1039 temporarily stores the URL informationsupplied from the control section 1023 in the storage medium 1029 andthe like correspondingly to the call sign stored in the storage medium1029.

When supplied with the state information from the control section 1023,the radio broadcasting display control section 1039 sends the stateinformation to the display section 1025 via the display control section1024. The display section 1025 is allowed to display the stateinformation indicative of the service state in the radio broadcastinformation delivery server 1006.

Under the control of the control section 1023, the radio broadcastingdisplay control section 1039 follows the URL information temporarilystored in the storage medium 1029 and the like. According to thisinformation, the radio broadcasting display control section 1039 sends anow-on-air information request signal to the radio broadcast informationdelivery server 1006 via the communication control section 1032 and thenetwork interface 1033 in order. The now-on-air information requestsignal requests to acquire the now-on-air information. Likewise, theradio broadcasting display control section 1039 sends the servicesession ID information and the like that are already received from theradio broadcast information delivery server 1006 and are temporarilystored in the authentication information storage section 1038.

In the radio broadcast information delivery service provision process,at step SP1078, the client terminal 1002 sends the now-on-airinformation request signal, the service session ID information, and thelike to the radio broadcast information delivery server 1006. Thisprocess corresponds to the process at step SP1010 in FIG. 17 asmentioned above.

Therefore, in the radio broadcast information delivery service provisionprocess, the process at step SP1078 is followed by the userauthentication process equivalent to steps SP1011 through SP1013 andsteps SP1018 through SP1022 in the client terminal 1002, the radiobroadcast information delivery server 1006, and the portal server 1003as mentioned above with reference to FIG. 17. After these steps areperformed in succession, control proceeds to the next step SP1079.

At step SP1079, under the control of the control section 1023, the radiobroadcasting display control section 1039 of the client terminal 1002again follows the URL information temporarily stored in the storagemedium 1029 and the like and sends a now-on-air information requestsignal to the radio broadcast information delivery server 1006 via thecommunication control section 1032 and the network interface 1033 inorder. Likewise, the radio broadcasting display control section 1039sends the service session ID information and the like that are alreadyreceived from the radio broadcast information delivery server 1006 andare temporarily stored in the authentication information storage section1038.

At step SP1080, the control section 1110 of the radio broadcastinformation delivery server 1006 receives the now-on-air informationrequest signal, the service session ID information, and the like sentfrom the client terminal 1002 via the network interface 1113 and thecommunication control section 1112 in order. The control section 1110sends the received authentication session ID information and the like tothe authentication processing section 1115.

Under the control of the control section 1110, the authenticationprocessing section 1115 performs the user authentication process.Specifically, the authentication processing section 1115 compares thereceived service session ID information and the like with the servicesession ID information and the like temporarily stored in theauthentication information storage section 1120.

As a result, the authentication processing section 1115 may authenticatethe user of the client terminal 1002 to be a registered user. In thiscase, the authentication processing section 1115 determines that theclient terminal 1002 issued the valid request to acquire the now-on-airinformation.

When the authentication processing section 1115 authenticates the userof the client terminal 1002 to be a registered user. In this case, thecontrol section 1110 extends the valid period of the service session IDinformation and the like issued to the client terminal 1002 by theauthentication processing section 1115, and then proceeds to the nextstep SP1081.

At step SP1081, the control section 1110 reads the now-on-airinformation from the now-on-air information storage section 1119. Thecontrol section 1110 sends the read now-on-air information as well asthe service session ID information and the like having the valid periodextended by the authentication processing section 1115 to the clientterminal 1002 via the communication control section 1112 and the networkinterface 1113 in order.

At step SP1082, the control section 1023 of the client terminal 1002receives the now-on-air information and the service session IDinformation and the like having the extended valid period sent from theradio broadcast information delivery server 1006 via the networkinterface 1033 and the communication control section 1032 in order. Thecontrol section 1023 sends the received service session ID informationand the like to the authentication processing section 1037. The controlsection 1023 sends the now-on-air information to the radio broadcastingdisplay control section 1039.

Under the control of the control section 1023, the authenticationprocessing section 1037 temporarily stores the received service sessionID information having the extended valid period and the like in theauthentication information storage section 1038 to overwrite the servicesession ID information having the valid period not extended. In thismanner, the authentication processing section 1037 updates the contentsof the service session ID information and the like temporarily stored inthe authentication information storage section 1038.

Further, the radio broadcasting display control section 1039 sends thenow-on-air information supplied from the control section 1023 to thedisplay section 1025 via the display control section 1024. In thismanner, the display section 1025 is allowed to display the now-on-airinformation concerning the radio program in the currently received radiobroadcast.

In the radio broadcast information delivery service provision process,the client terminal 1002 thereafter periodically repeats the acquisitionrequest for now-on-air information at step SP1079. The radio broadcastinformation delivery server 1006 receives the acquisition request fromthe client terminal 1002 and successively performs the process at stepsSP1080 and SP1081.

In this manner, the client terminal 1002 can realtime update thenow-on-air information and display it on the display section 1025 of theclient terminal 1002. For example, the now-on-air information includesthe name of the currently received radio program, the program broadcaststart time, the program broadcast end time, the title and artist name ofa musical composition currently played in the radio program, and themusical composition broadcast start time.

According to the above-mentioned configuration, the second embodimentcan also provide the same effect as for the above-mentioned firstembodiment.

According to the description of the above-mentioned first embodiment,the program modules for the client terminal CT (FIG. 7) include the HTTPmessage program 36 and the communicator program 37. These programmodules can implement the same functions as the communication controlsection 1032 (FIG. 13) of the client terminal 1002 according to thesecond embodiment.

The content reproduction module 38 (FIG. 7) is a program module capableof implementing the same functions as the encoder/decoder section 1034(FIG. 13).

The copyright protection information management module 39 (FIG. 7) is aprogram module capable of implementing the same functions as thecopyright management section 1035 (FIG. 13).

The Internet radio channel selection/reproduction module 43 (FIG. 7) isa program module capable of implementing the same functions as thecontrol section 1023 and the audio control section 1026 (FIG. 13).

The musical composition purchase/reproduction module 44 (FIG. 7) is aprogram module capable of implementing the same functions as the controlsection 1023 and the audio control section 1026 (FIG. 13).

The XML browser 50 (FIG. 7) is a program module capable of implementingthe same functions as the input processing section 1021 and the pageinformation generation section 1036 (FIG. 13).

The hard disk contents controller 42, the database access module 40, andthe content data access module 41 (FIG. 7) are program modules capableof implementing the same functions as the control section 1023 (FIG.13).

The authentication library 47A of the library 47 (FIG. 7) is a programmodule capable of implementing the same functions as the authenticationprocessing section 1037 and the authentication information storagesection 1038 (FIG. 13).

The clip library 47B of the library 47 (FIG. 7) is a program modulecapable of implementing the same functions as the control section 1023(FIG. 13).

The associated information display module 45 (FIG. 7) is a programmodule capable of implementing the same functions as the radiobroadcasting display control section 1039 (FIG. 13).

The tuner selection/reproduction/recording module 46 (FIG. 7) is aprogram module capable of implementing the same functions as the controlsection 1023, the audio control section 1026, and the tuner section 1031(FIG. 13).

The audio user interface 51 (FIG. 7) is a program module capable ofimplementing the same functions as the input processing section 1021,the control section 1023, and the display control section 1024 (FIG.13).

The CD reproduction module 48 (FIG. 7) is a program module capable ofimplementing the same functions as the audio control section 1026 andthe external recording media recording and reproducing section 1028(FIG. 13).

The HDD reproduction module 49 (FIG. 7) is a program module capable ofimplementing the same functions as the control section 1023 and theaudio control section 1026 (FIG. 13).

That is to say, the client terminal CT has the hardware circuit blockconfiguration according to the first embodiment as mentioned above.Since the CPU 11 uses various program modules, the client terminal CTcan implement the same processes as the client terminal 1002 having thefunctional circuit block configuration according to the secondembodiment.

The URL provision server 3 (FIG. 3) according to the above-mentionedfirst embodiment is functionally equivalent to the portal server 1003(FIG. 14) according to the above-mentioned second embodiment. Thecontrol section 80 appropriately selects and follows various programsstored in the ROM 81 to function equivalently to the control section1050, the communication control section 1052, and the authenticationprocessing section 1056 of the portal server 1003. Further, the ROM 81,the RAM 82, and the URL storage DB 83 can be used equivalently to thecustomer database section 1054, the page information storage section1055, the authentication information storage section 1057, the frequencyinformation storage section 1058, and the URL storage section 1059 ofthe portal server 1003.

Further, the associated information provision server KS (FIG. 4)according to the above-mentioned first embodiment is functionallyequivalent to the radio broadcast information delivery server 1006 (FIG.15) according to the above-mentioned second embodiment. The controlsection 90 appropriately selects and follows various programs stored inthe ROM 91 to function equivalently to the control section 1110, thecommunication control section 1112, the authentication processingsection 1115, and the retrieval section 1118 of the radio broadcastinformation delivery server 1006. It is possible to use the ROM 91, theRAM 92, the musical composition information DB 93, and the programinformation DB 94 in the same manner as the customer database section1114, the page information storage section 1116, the on-air-listinformation storage section 1117, the now-on-air information storagesection 1119, and the authentication information storage section 1120 ofthe radio broadcast information delivery server 1006.

(3) Other Embodiments

There has been described the URL provision server 3 according to theabove-mentioned embodiment. When the state information contains no URL,the URL provision server 3 determines that the radio station RS suppliesno information provision service. The URL provision server 3 providesthe state information by adding to it a message indicatingunavailability of the information provision service. However, thepresent invention is not limited thereto. It may be preferable to useelectronic mail to send a message indicating unavailability of theinformation provision service to the client terminal CT.

Further, according to the above-mentioned embodiment, the URL provisionserver 3 provides the client terminal CT with the state informationpassed from the associated information provision server KS. However, thepresent invention is not limited thereto. The URL provision server 3 mayperiodically retrieve the state information from the associatedinformation provision server KS and provide the state information inaccordance with a URL acquisition request from the client terminal CT.

According to the above-mentioned embodiment, the URL provision server 3and the associated information provision server KS are providedindependently. However, the present invention is not limited thereto.The URL provision server 3 and the associated information provisionserver KS may be unified to provide the state information directly tothe client terminal CT.

According to the above-mentioned embodiment, the ROM 81 stores the stateinformation provision program in advance. The URL provision server 3loads this program into the RAM 82. In accordance with the stateinformation provision program, the URL provision server 3 performs theabove-mentioned state information provision sequence. However, thepresent invention is not limited thereto. It may be preferable toperform the state information provision sequence by installing the URLprovision server 3 with a program storage medium that stores the stateinformation provision program.

According to the above-mentioned embodiment, the ROM 13 stores the stateinformation acquisition program in advance. The client terminal CT loadsthis program into the RAM 20. In accordance with the state informationacquisition program, the client terminal CT performs the above-mentionedstate information provision sequence. However, the present invention isnot limited thereto. It may be preferable to perform the stateinformation provision sequence by installing the client terminal CT witha program storage medium that stores the state information acquisitionprogram.

According to the above-mentioned first embodiment, the URL provisionserver 3 functions as the information provision apparatus and theauthentication server of the present invention. The URL provision server3 is configured to comprise the data communication processing section 84as reception means and the control section 80 and the data communicationprocessing section 84 as transmission means. However, the presentinvention is not limited thereto. The other various circuits may be usedto configure the information provision apparatus.

According to the above-mentioned first embodiment, the client terminalCT functions as the information reception apparatus of the presentinvention. The client terminal CT is configured to comprise the CPU 11,the communication processing section 22, and the network interface 23 astransmission and reception means. However, the present invention is notlimited thereto. The other various circuits may be used to configure theinformation reception apparatus.

According to the above-mentioned second embodiment, the portal server1003 functions as the information provision apparatus and theauthentication server of the present invention. The portal server 1003is configured to comprise the control section 1050 and the communicationcontrol section 1052 as reception and transmission means. However, thepresent invention is not limited thereto. The other various circuits maybe used to configure the information provision apparatus.

According to the above-mentioned second embodiment, the client terminal1002 functions as the information reception apparatus of the presentinvention. The client terminal 1002 is configured to comprise thecontrol section 1023 and the communication processing section 1032 astransmission and reception means. However, the present invention is notlimited thereto. The other various circuits may be used to configure theinformation reception apparatus.

According to the above-mentioned embodiment, the client terminal 1002 orCT can receive radio broadcast carried from the radio station. However,the present invention is not limited thereto. The client terminal 1002or CT may receive Internet radio broadcast or satellite radio broadcastto acquire the associated information (radio broadcast information).Alternatively, the client terminal 1002 or CT may receive televisionbroadcast carried from a television broadcast station and acquirevarious broadcast information and the like about television programs inthe television broadcast from a networked server.

According to the above-mentioned embodiment, the client terminal 1002 orCT is provided with the hardware circuit blocks, the functional circuitblocks, and the program modules. However, the present invention is notlimited thereto. These hardware circuit blocks and the like may beinstalled in not only the client terminal 1002 or CT, but also the othervarious terminals such as cellular phones, personal computers, and thelike. The same processes as implemented on the above-mentioned clientterminal 1002 or CT can be also implemented on terminals installed withthe hardware circuit blocks, the functional circuit blocks, and theprogram modules.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The information provision method according to the present invention

The information provision method according to the present invention canbe applied to the purpose of providing service states concerning aninformation provision service before access to a homepage for theinformation provision service.

EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

1 . . . INFORMATION PROVISION SERVER, 2 . . . INTERNET, 3 . . . CLIENTTERMINAL, 1003 . . . PORTAL SERVER, 1006 . . . RADIO BROADCASTINFORMATION PROVISION SERVER, RS . . . RADIO STATION, KS . . .ASSOCIATED INFORMATION PROVISION SERVER

1. A method of providing information from a server to a broadcastreceiver, the method comprising: receiving, from the broadcast receiver,identification information for identifying a currently receivedbroadcast station; receiving, from an external server, state informationwhich indicates a state of a service for providing informationconcerning said currently received broadcast station corresponding tosaid identification information; providing information, from the server,depending on whether a URL is included in the state information, theinformation indicating an unavailability of the service, upon adetermination that the URL is not included in the state information; andtransmitting, to said broadcast receiver, said state information andsaid URL corresponding to said service, after receiving saididentification information from said broadcast receiver and said stateinformation from said external server, and upon a determination that theURL is included in the state information.
 2. The method according toclaim 1, wherein said transmitting provides said state information andsaid URL to said broadcast receiver at least when said service isavailable.
 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:performing an information provision service by transmitting informationabout said service to said broadcast receiver in accordance with anaccess to said URL from said broadcast receiver.
 4. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein said transmitting provides additional informationcorresponding to said identification information as well as said stateinformation to said broadcast receiver.
 5. The method according to claim1, wherein said external server is a content server that provides saidservice to said broadcast receiver, and said server is an URL provisionserver that transmits an address of said content server, which is theaddress transmitted in the transmitting.
 6. The method according toclaim 1, wherein said server receives request information which requestsinformation about said service and a service session ID equivalent to asession ID associated with said server, transmitted from said broadcastreceiver based on said URL; said server performs an authenticationprocess based on said service session ID and, when an authenticationerror occurs, transmits information indicating the authentication errorand identification information for identifying said server to saidbroadcast receiver; an authentication server receives authenticationticket issuance request information which requests to issue anauthentication ticket for an access to said server as well as anauthentication session ID equivalent to a session ID associated withsaid authentication server, from said broadcast receiver; saidauthentication server authenticates said authentication session ID, whengranting an authentication, issues said authentication ticket, andtransmits said authentication ticket to said broadcast receiver; saidserver receives said authentication ticket transmitted from saidbroadcast receiver and transmits said authentication ticket to saidauthentication server; said authentication server, when authenticatingsaid authentication ticket to be valid, transmits information indicatingauthentication permission to said server; said server receives saidinformation indicating the authentication permission, issues a servicesession ID as a session ID associated with said broadcast receiver, andtransmits said service session ID to said broadcast receiver; saidserver, when granting an authentication, transmits associatedinformation corresponding to said request information to said broadcastreceiver.
 7. An information provision apparatus, comprising: receptionmeans for receiving, from a broadcast receiver, identificationinformation for identifying a currently received broadcast station, andfor receiving, from an external server, state information whichindicates a state of a service for providing information concerning saidcurrently received broadcast station corresponding to saididentification information; and transmission means for providinginformation depending on whether a URL is included in the stateinformation, the information indicating an unavailability of theservice, upon a determination that the URL is not included in the stateinformation, and for transmitting, to said broadcast receiver, saidstate information and said URL corresponding to said service, after areceiving of said identification information from said broadcastreceiver and said state information from said external server, and upona determination that the URL is included in the state information;providing information, from the computer, depending on whether a URL isincluded in the state information, the information indicating anunavailability of the service, upon a determination that the URL is notincluded in the state information; and transmitting, to said broadcastreceiver, said state information and said URL corresponding to saidservice, after receiving said identification information from saidbroadcast receiver and said state information from said external server,and upon a determination that the URL is included in the stateinformation.
 8. The information provision apparatus according to claim7, wherein said transmission means transmits said state information andsaid URL to said broadcast receiver at least when said service isavailable.
 9. The information provision apparatus according to claim 7,further comprising: an information provision service execution means forperforming an information provision service by transmitting informationabout said service to said broadcast receiver in accordance with anaccess to said URL from said broadcast receiver.
 10. The informationprovision apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said transmissionmeans transmits additional information corresponding to saididentification information as well as said state information to saidbroadcast receiver.
 11. The information provision apparatus according toclaim 7, external server wherein said external server is a contentserver that provides said service to said broadcast receiver, and saidinformation provision apparatus is an URL provision server thattransmits an address of said content server, which is the addresstransmitted by the transmission means.
 12. A computer readable storagemedium encoded with computer program instructions executable by acomputer to implement a method of information processing, comprising:receiving, from the broadcast receiver, identification information foridentifying a currently received broadcast station; receiving, from anexternal server, state information which indicates a state of a servicefor providing information concerning said currently received broadcaststation corresponding to said identification information; providinginformation, from the computer, depending on whether a URL is includedin the state information, the information indicating an unavailabilityof the service, upon a determination that the URL is not included in thestate information; and transmitting, to said broadcast receiver, saidstate information and said URL corresponding to said service, afterreceiving said identification information from said broadcast receiverand said state information from said external server, and upon adetermination that the URL is included in the state information.
 13. Aninformation provision apparatus, comprising: a reception interface thatreceives, from a broadcast receiver, identification informationidentifying a currently received broadcast station, and that receives,from an external server, state information which indicates a state of aservice for providing information concerning said currently receivedbroadcast station corresponding to said identification information; anda transmitter configured to provide information depending on whether aURL is included in the state information, the information indicating anunavailability of the service, upon a determination that the URL is notincluded in the state information, and to transmit, to said broadcastreceiver, said state information and said URL corresponding to saidservice, after a receiving of said identification information from saidbroadcast receiver and said state information from said external server,and upon a determination that the URL is included in the stateinformation.